Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, stated on Tuesday that he expects Brazilian striker Vinicius Jr to continue at the Spanish club despite receiving racial abuse in recent LaLiga matches. Ancelotti made his comments at a press conference.
“I don’t think so (because he loves football and he loves Real Madrid),” I said. “I don’t think he will leave Spain.” Ancelotti stated in front of a news conference that the player has a “very big love” for the club and that he intends to build his career here.
He stated that Vinicius was “overwhelmed” despite being “very sad” because of the “unconditional support” he was getting “even from rivals.”
“He is the one who is getting hurt by all that is going on. Sometimes I hear people blaming him for what happened, stating that he stimulates others with his attitude, and other things like that… no! he remarked that, and went on to say that the fact that the insults had began as soon as the team bus arrived at the stadium discredited arguments that Vinicius had provoked the crowd.
Seven persons were held by Spanish police early on Tuesday on suspicion of committing various acts of hate crime against Vinicius Jr. The offenses include reportedly hurling racial comments at the Brazilian player during a match that took place on Sunday at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia.
The arrests came only one day after the head of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, stated that Spanish soccer has a problem with racism. This is the tenth complaint that Real Madrid has submitted for racial abuse against Vinicius in Spain this season.
Ancelotti called on the authorities to implement measures that are more effective against racism and hate speech in soccer, and he stated that the protocols that are now in place to deal with the issue are no longer relevant.
“I am looking for acts! And there has been no action taken thus yet. There are certain nations in which people would not attack you, such as England, for instance, since they fixed the problem a long time ago: they barred England from participating in European competition for a period of five years.
He stated that he was considering pulling his squad off the field the next time Vinicius or any of his other players were subjected to racial slurs by opposing fans.