Dani Alves has waded into the media storm surrounding Vinicius Junior’s celebrations dancing and the ensuing racism debate that has come out of it.
Vinicius Junior released a statement on Friday, which defended himself against criticism and racist remarks he received as a result of the matter, which received strong support from the football community, especially in Brazil.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti then contradicted his own player, claiming he did not see “that type of racism in Spain,” during his Saturday morning press conference.
A few hours later Alves tweeted out his thoughts. He replied to a tweet by ESPN correspondent Moises Llorens, who was making the point that the Vinicius dancing was not the problem, rather those who defend him based on club allegiances but took a similar line of criticism against others.
Alves quoted Llorens’ tweet with the following:
“Serious are the idiots who continue to think that the dances are the problem. Gentlemen, the real problem is that Europe is full of RACISTs and they do not accept that other nationalities stand out in their country more than they do. I experienced that in almost every place there.”
The Brazilian full-back has been one of the most outspoken voices in Spanish football on racism, having suffered from it extensively. Famously, when a banana was thrown at him during an away game with Villarreal, Alves picked it up and ate some of it before he took a corner.