Vinicius Jr. dance celebration under scrutiny

By: Sports DeskUpdated: September 17, 2022 5:47:03 pm

When Atletico Madrid plays their city rivals, Real, tensions are primarily high. The two have met in some of the most hotly contested games across European football over the last few years, including the Champions League finals. Come this Saturday though, one player has attracted headlines more than the others who’ll feature at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Vinicius Jr. has been on a football high. An absolute menace of a winger who has been a nightmare for defenders given his pace, dribbling skills, and goal-scoring prowess. Recently, however, Pedro Bravo, President of the Spanish Agents association said Vinicius was not respecting his opponents with his celebrations and compared the 22-year-old’s behaviour to that of a monkey while talking about him on a Spanish television programme, El Chiringuito. An incident that immediately sparked social media outrage.

The Real Madrid player responded to the same with a video on his social media.

“They say that happiness bothers,” he said. “The happiness of a victorious black Brazilian in Europe bothers much more. But my desire to win, my smile and the sparkle in my eyes are much bigger than that. You can’t even imagine it. I was a victim of a xenophobic and racist comment. But none of that started yesterday.”

✊🏿🖤! Obrigado pelo apoio! Eu não vou parar! #BailaViniJrpic.twitter.com/h3RsmwYAYw

— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) September 16, 2022

He further added, “Weeks ago they began to criminalize my dances. Dances that are not mine. They belong to Ronaldinho, Neymar, (Lucas) Paqueta, (Antoine) Griezmann, Joao Felix, and Matheus Cunha… they belong to Brazilian funk and samba artists, reggaeton singers, and black Americans. Those are dances to celebrate the cultural diversity of the world. Accept it, respect it. I’m not going to stop.”

Real Madrid football club also posted a statement in support of the player who scored the winning goal to clinch their 14th UEFA Champions League title last season.

The club said in the statement on Friday that it “rejects all types of racist and xenophobic expression and behavior in soccer, sports and life in general, such as the regrettable and unfortunate comments in recent hours directed toward our player Vinícius Júnior.” Real added that it would take legal action against anyone who used racist language against its player.

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The Atletico Madrid captain, Koke was also asked to comment on the same in a media interaction. The 30-year-old said that the Brazilian can ‘expect trouble’ if he does the same in the derby match on Sunday.

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“There would be trouble, for sure, (that is) to be expected.”

“If in the end he scores and decides to dance, well, it’s what he wants to do. Would I understand it or not? Everyone has their own way of being and of celebrating goals as they please,” Koke further added.

O futebol é alegria. É uma dança. É uma verdadeira festa. Apesar de que o racismo ainda exista, não permitiremos que isso nos impeça de continuar sorrindo. E nós continuaremos combatendo o racismo desta forma: lutando pelo nosso direito de sermos felizes. #BailaViniJrpic.twitter.com/yCJxJEAn4a

— Pelé (@Pele) September 16, 2022

Other players also raised their support for Vinicius via social media posts including former Brazil great and three-time World Cup winner with the Selecao, Pele.

“Football is joy. It’s a dance. It’s more than that. It’s a real party. Although unfortunately, racism still exists, we will not allow that to stop us from continuing to smile. And we will continue to fight racism every day in this way: fighting for our right to be happy and respected. #BailaViniJr,” he wrote on his social media.

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Vinicius’ Brazil teammate and PSG forward, Neymar also took to his Instagram to share a photo of the former and write, “Dribble, dance and be you. Happy just the way you are. Keep it up my boy, next goal we dance.”

First published on: 17-09-2022 at 12:16:07 pm Next Story

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