After receiving racial insults against Valencia last Sunday, Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, many people in Spain condemned the soccer authorities.
It has been "completely inadequate" how LaLiga has handled the "absolutely disgraceful" incidents of racist abuse directed against Vinicius Junior.
Sanjay Bhandari, the chair of Kick It Out, issued the statement following fresh slurs directed against Vinicius during Valencia's victory over Real Madrid last Sunday.
Following an appeal, Valencia's fines for the event were scaled back, with the Mestalla Stadium's partial closure being reduced from five matches to three, as well as their monetary fine.
Vinicius has not received any assistance from the Spanish Football Federation or LaLiga president Javier Tebas, according to Bhandari, chair of the organization working to end racism in football.
At the Football Business Awards, Bhandari told Stats Perform, "I think the treatment we've seen of Vinicius has been absolutely disgraceful."
"It's 10 or 11 games; it has occurred over the course of the previous two seasons; it wasn't just this past weekend.
"The Spanish government's response was wholly insufficient, and it really went beyond the call of duty by escalating the situation.
"The way LaLiga president Javier Tebas behaved, trying to put the responsibility on Vinicius and treating him like a problem while Vinicius is truly the victim... It actually dates back 30 or 40 years.
Tebas criticized Vinicius for calling LaLiga racist, and the league's president blasted the 22-year-old for "not informing himself properly" before issuing an apology.
The incident—and Tebas' response—led to significant criticism of LaLiga and Spanish football's racial dynamics, and Bhandari called for more action on the problems.
It's unacceptable to have entire stands of fans chanting "monkey" songs, he continued. "They need to get on with taking more concrete steps to kick discrimination out of Spanish football," he said.
Making monkey sounds and yelling "monkey" at Vinicius is completely inappropriate, and there should be no evasion or justification for that sort of behavior, as we have seen.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0