A season that Vinicius Junior should be enjoying because of his fantastic level is instead being overshadowed by the shameful, racial abuse he received in different stadiums in Spain.
The Real Madrid star has exposed the discrimination he experienced in a number of away games during the 2022-23 campaign, with plenty of renowned personalities standing by his side and claiming LaLiga to take action. Unfortunately, Roberto Carlos had also suffered from racism in Spain.
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++ Real Madrid teammates and fans pay tribute to Vinicius Junior at the Bernabéu
++ Ancelotti: “Vinicius Junior is not thinking about leaving Madrid”
++ Spanish police arrest four people on suspicion of hanging an effigy of Vinicius Junior off a highway bridge
The day Barcelona fans racially abused Roberto Carlos
During an away derby against Barcelona, home supporters racially abused the then Brazilian left-back, calling him “monkey” and later scratching that word in his car. Shortly after Vinicius’ recent episode in Valencia, many fans remembered what Roberto Carlos went through in 1997.
In 1997 Roberto Carlos tried to speak out after being racially abused.
Pep Guardiola responded to the media by saying "He shouldn’t be talking"
Barcelona fans then sang “Roberto Carlos, f*cking chimpanzee" & scratched the word ‘monkey’ over his car.pic.twitter.com/BiCpQfEVpL
— Omar 🇦🇪 (@RmfcOmar) May 23, 2023
The former Real Madrid star even thought about leaving Spain in the wake of that shameful night at Camp Nou. Unfortunately, it’s been more than two decades and yet some people seem to have learned nothing. Hopefully, we’ll get to the day where racism is no longer a thing, let alone in football. But changes need to be made to get closer to that day.
