MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior praised Barcelona star Lamine Yamal for publicly condemning anti-Muslim chants during a recent match and said players need to unite in the fight against discrimination.
Vinicius spoke on Monday, less than a week after Yamal. criticized the chant By a Spanish fan during last Tuesday’s friendly match between Spain and Egypt. Yamal, who is Muslim, said the chant was disrespectful and intolerable.
Brazil international Vinicius has been vocal about his fight against racism, having often faced racist taunts while playing in Europe. “It’s always complicated” to talk about the topic, he said, but “this happens a lot.”
“I hope we can continue this fight,” he said. “It’s important for Lamine to talk about it. It might help others. We’re famous, we have money, we can balance these things better, but the poor and black people everywhere are definitely having a harder time than us. So we have to come together, people with stronger voices, players…”
At the Champions League match held in Lisbon last month, Vinicius accuses Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni For calling the Brazilian forward a monkey after he celebrated in front of the home fans when he scored in Madrid. Benfica fans insulted Vinicius from the stands.
“I’m not saying that Spain, Germany and Portugal are racist countries, but there are racists in these countries, and there are racists in Brazil and other countries,” Vinicius said. “But if we continue to fight together, I don’t think future players or the public will have to go through something like this again.”
Vinicius said this on the eve of the first leg between Madrid and Bayern Munich. champions league quarter finals.
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