There has been a lot of tension in Europe this past week as footballers have been racially abused. This weekend has stripped all the progress made by the whole football federation to fight racism, and all of this started in the biggest competition in Europe, the Champions League, where Real Madrid star Vinícius Jr was a victim of it when his side faced the Portuguese side Benfica.
Vini Jr gave his side the lead at the 50th minute with a wonderful strike, which he celebrated by dancing, and this caused tension between the Benfica players. Gianluca Prestianni represented his frustration by going to confront Vini Jr, and during this action, it was allegedly stated that he racially abused Vini Jr by covering his mouth using his jersey, and he uttered the words to him. This incident made Vini Jr take matters into his own hands and walk off the pitch.
This incident carried on even after the game, after a controversial press conference by Jose Mourinho, suggesting that it is the way Vini Jr celebrated that invented the tension; his comments were not well-received by many people, saying that “Something is wrong because it happens in many stadiums, the stadiums where Vinicius plays, something always happens.” Bayern Munich’s coach, Kompany, responded by saying that it was a big mistake by Mourinho in terms of leadership.
The racial abuses continued on the weekend as the Premier League was the biggest victim. On Saturday, after Chelsea’s match against Burnley, Wesley Fofana was abused on social media after his red card, which caused Chelsea to lose all 3 points. He received text messages on his Instagram page, which he posted on his stories, showing the people who had abused him. Chelsea quickly posted a statement that described the incident as “unacceptable and disgusting.”
In the same 48-hour window, Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri and Sunderland’s Romaine Mundle also received a significant amount of hate on their digital platforms, prompting both clubs to issue stern warnings and disapproval against these actions.
Later in the weekend, Wolves’ Tolu Arokodare was also abused; this was after he missed a penalty against Crystal Palace. Wolves released a statement saying that, “Tolu has our full and unwavering support.” No player should be subjected to such hatred simply for doing their job.”
The Premier League went ahead and stated that there will be serious consequences for anyone found guilty, and they are ready to offer full support in their investigations.
