REAL MADRID cancelling their appearance at the Ballon d’Or awards night was silly, small-minded and unsporting.
The Spanish club acted in support of Vinicius Jr, whose claim to be football star of the year was rejected in favour of Manchester City’s Rodri.
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Real impressed no one. Yet, from the club’s point of view, acting in sympathy with Vinicius Jr made sense.
He consistently suffers appalling racial abuse and missing out on such a major award would have been a further blow in public.
This is what racism on the terraces can do. And you don’t have to be a sensitive soul to be depressed by a barrage of filth aimed at you.
Even minor abuse on the pitch, as well as from the sidelines, is unsettling and must be firmly punished.
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Abusers of Vinicius Jr appear regularly in Spanish courts and so do other contaminators — including a Real fan in the El Clasico at the Bernabeu no less.
Barcelona’s 17-year-old Lamine Yamal was on the end of vile language after scoring.
English football suffers similar incidents but the number of them in Spain is even more shameful.
LaLiga has reported 25 cases of racial abuse of Brazilian Vinicius Jr, 24, and recently three men were jailed for eight months.
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Such has been the applause for his own conduct that, last season, he was presented with the Socrates Award for his fight against racism.
Yet his efforts to stop this filth is like standing in front of a fast-moving car in a gamble to dodge it.
In tears at one press conference, Vinicius Jr (above) said: “I just want to play football but it’s hard to move forward . . . I feel less and less like playing. It never crossed my mind to leave Spain as, if I do, I give the racists exactly what they want.
“I will stay because, that way, the racists can continue to see my face more and more.
“I’m a bold player, I play for Real and we win a lot of titles — and that doesn’t sit well with a lot of people.”
But from fans of Osasuna, Mallorca, Real Valladolid, Barcelona, Atletico and at least five other clubs, the insults have continued.
Ballon d’Or 2024 results
- 1: Rodri, Man City and Spain
- 2: Vinicius Jr, Real Madrid and Brazil
- 3: Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid and England
- 4: Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid and Spain
- 5: Erling Haaland, Man City and Norway
- 6: Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid and France
- 7: Lautaro Martinz, Inter Milan and Argentina
- 8: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona and Spain
- 9: Toni Kroos, Real Madrid and Germany
- 10: Harry Kane, Bayern Munich and England
- 11: Phil Foden, Man City and England
- 12: Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen and Germany
- 13: Dani Olmo, Barcelona and Spain
- 14: Ademola Lookman, Atalanta and Nigeria
- 15: Nico Williams, Athletic Bilbao and Spain
- 16: Granit Xhaka, Bayer Leverkusen and Switzerland
- 17: Federico Valverde, Real Madrid and Uruguay
- 18: Emi Martinez, Aston Villa and Argentina
- 19: Martin Odegaard, Arsenal and Norway
- 20: Hakan Calhanoglu, Inter Milan and Turkey
- 21: Bukayo Saka, Arsenal and England
- 22: Antonio Rudiger, Real Madrid and Germany
- 23: Ruben Dias, Man City and Portugal
- 24: William Saliba, Arsenal and France
- 25: Cole Palmer, Chelsea and England
- 26: Declan Rice, Arsenal and England
- 27: Vitinha, PSG and Portugal
- 28: Alejandro Grimaldo, Bayer Leverkusen and Spain
- 29: Mats Hummels, Roma and Germany
- 30: Artem Dovbyk, Roma and Ukraine
In England, the Kick it Out campaign quickly made an impact on supporters but the problem is far from over.
Racism is still an issue, while arrests are infrequent but still occur. This was illustrated by the horrific racist abuse faced by England players Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final shootout against Italy.
Much of this came on social media and, frankly, any player who bothers with it is asking for trouble.
There is a good deal of legislation against racial abuse in and around football grounds.
And I am happy to say it is not welcomed on the terraces either, with fans making it obvious what they think of culprits.
But for Vinicius Jr, nothing much has improved. He scores a lot of goals and after he does so, often he dances. And why not?
His samba moves have been used as a reason for racial insults — but that’s garbage.
In a further disgrace, his effigy was hung from a bridge near Madrid before a derby with Atletico and four men were later arrested.
That is what hate can do: curdle humanity and bring tears.
So thank goodness Vinicius Jr is still scoring goals.
