Vinicius will not play this Wednesday in the derby against Rayo Vallecano. As too often the victim of racist insults and chants on Sunday, during Real’s defeat in Valencia (1-0), the 22-year-old Brazilian international winger was sent off in stoppage time. In view of the context, the federation Spanish however announced Friday that the interested party will not be suspended for this meeting of the 36th day of La Liga. But in the end, Vinicius Jr does not appear in the starting lineup concocted by Carlo Ancelotti for this match, nor in the list of players called to sit on the substitutes’ bench. According to the Spanish press, he is out due to a knee injury. Marca do not rule out a withdrawal from Sevilla on the 37th round.
“Vini”, however, will be present on the lawn of the Bernabeu. His shirt anyway. Madrid players will indeed all wear his number, 20, during the warm-up. Sign that the Casa Blanca remains behind its player in this difficult period. Moreover, Vinicius has no intention of leaving Real, as confirmed by AS on Wednesday.
Remember that Vinicius has been the victim of racist insults on several occasions in recent months. The Spanish federation imposed a five-match partial closed session and a fine on the Valencia club following the excesses of last weekend. Overflows which greatly moved the world of football, in Spain of course, but also in Brazil and everywhere else. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, also spoke on this subject.
Criticized for his position, the president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, also apologized. “I didn’t mean to attack Vinicius, but if most people understood it that way, I have to apologize. It was not my intention I expressed myself badly, at the wrong time. (…) If I hurt someone, if people could think that I was racist, it is far from being the reality. We don’t want racism in football. I don’t want racism towards a player who is going to be, who is a world star, Vinicius,” he said on ESPN. Note that a poster bearing the image of Vinicius was vandalized near Santiago-Bernabeu. There is work on the side of Spain…
