Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has called out La Liga and the Spanish authorities for their lack of action regarding the racial abuse that Vinicius Junior has been suffering.
The Brazilian forward broke down in tears on Monday evening, as he addressed the media ahead of a friendly between Spain and Brazil under the slogan ‘one same skin’. He has suffered regular racial abuse over the past two seasons, and called upon the authorities to punish racism more harshly.
This cry was taken up by Ferdinand, who accused the Spanish law enforcement of ‘accepting racism, while he noted that hearing La Liga President Javier Tebas‘ ‘s***’ last season was enough for him to demand ‘big changes’.
Is Spain a racist country???
I don’t know as I don’t live there to know or see that experience. But I know there is RACISM in the stadiums there & it seems to be accepted by the authorities for some reason??? To see a young man break down in a press conference like @vinijr is… pic.twitter.com/s0bhiPH449— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) March 26, 2024
Last season Vinicius replied to Tebas on social media claiming that the La Liga President was ‘just as bad as the racists’, after the latter defended both Spain and La Liga as ‘not racist’, describing the incidents of racial abuse as isolated incidents. Tebas later apologised for his comments, and La Liga have since requested more power to sanction racist acts, although they are yet to receive it.
