Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior suffered gruesome racial abuse last season, but will be hoping that that is behind him this campaign. The Brazilian winger has not taken that abuse lying down though, taking on the authorities in Spain and forcing them to take racism more seriously – Diego Costa is right behind him.
The former Atletico Madrid forward, now retired, has admitted that he too suffered racial abuse in La Liga.
“It’s very difficult to comment on Vinicius, you know? I remember that when I came to play in the Spanish League, I heard my opponents tell me ‘go back to your country’, ‘lowlife’, ‘monkey b******’…”
But he told Relevo that for him, it was not nearly as bad as for Vinicius.
“I knew it was to take my mind off the game, but I understand that it hurts a lot. Vinicius is a black boy. The story is totally different, racism goes back a long time and people have suffered a lot, it hurts a lot. They treated black people very differently.”
“There are many people who say that you have to ignore it, but no. You have to get over some of them, and it’s easier for me to get over it than for them, because nothing will equal what they’ve been through, the dogs lived better. Only they know what hurts.”
Costa was pleased that Vinicius was at Real Madrid though, noting that there he has the institutional ballast behind him in order to be able to force that change.
“There are people who use that to create a storm, but Vinicius doesn’t, luckily he’s at Real Madrid and he represents a lot. He has strength and power, if it happens to someone from Getafe or Rayo they would tell him ‘idiot, go home because this is what you get paid for’. The Federation and society wouldn’t give a toss.”
“Vinicius is right to be fighting. Everything has happened to him, people told him that he was very bad, that he didn’t know what to do with the ball… And look at what he is today, nobody has given him anything. He has every reason to ask for equal treatment.”
While it was not as persistent, and the circumstances were different, the case of Mouctar Diakhaby springs to mind. The Valencia defender accused Cadiz’s Juan Cala of racially abusing him, but no action was taken, even though Diakhaby left the field. In that case, even a sizeable club like Valencia, wasn’t sufficient to back Diakhaby in the same way as Vinicius, as Costa refers to.
