Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr. expressed that due to the ongoing racist abuse he has endured, he increasingly loses his desire to continue playing football.
During the previous season, La Liga reported 10 incidents of racism against the 23-year-old to prosecutors.
In an emotionally charged news conference on Monday, Vinicius emphasized that he would not succumb to racism by leaving Real Madrid and Spain. However, he admitted that it was difficult for him to overcome the abuse.
As part of an anti-racism campaign titled ‘One Skin’, Brazil is scheduled to play Spain in an international friendly at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Tuesday.
Vinicius said: “It never crossed my mind [to leave Spain] because if I leave Spain 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 Madrid and we win a lot of titles and that doesn’t sit well with a lot of people.
“I just want to play football but it’s hard to move forward; I feel less and less like playing.”
Real Madrid recently filed a complaint against referee Juan Martinez Munuera, who officiated their victory over Osasuna, alleging that he failed to include Vinicius’s reported racist abuse in his match report.
Osasuna has refuted any claims of racist chants from their supporters.
Vinicius has unfortunately experienced numerous instances of racist abuse in recent seasons.
These incidents include an occurrence during Real’s away derby victory against Atletico in September 2022, where Atletico condemned the “unacceptable” chants directed at Vinicius by a “minority” of fans outside their stadium prior to the match.
In June of the same year, four individuals were fined 60,001 euros (£51,700) and received a two-year stadium ban for hanging an effigy of Vinicius near Real’s training ground in January 2023.
Additionally, three other individuals were fined 5,000 euros (£4,300) and banned for one year for making racist gestures during Real’s match against Valencia in May of the previous season.
This season, reports of racist abuse towards Vinicius have surfaced during Real’s matches at Sevilla in October, at Barcelona the following week, and at Valencia earlier this month.