Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior backed Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal for speaking out against anti-Muslim chants during a recent match, stressing the need for unity in football’s fight against discrimination.
Speaking Monday, Vinicius addressed the issue days after Yamal condemned abuse from Spanish fans during Spain’s friendly against Egypt, calling the chants disrespectful and unacceptable.
The Brazil international, who has frequently faced racist taunts in Europe, said the topic remains difficult to confront but underlined its persistence, noting such incidents continue to happen far too often.
“Hopefully we can continue with this fight,” he said. “It’s important that Lamine speaks about it. It could help others. We are famous, we have money, we can handle these things better, but poor people and Black people everywhere surely struggle more than we do. So we have to stick together, those who have a stronger voice, the players ...”
In a Champions League match last month in Lisbon, Vinicius accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a monkey after the Brazil forward celebrated in front of home fans following his goal for Madrid. Benfica fans also insulted Vinicius from the stands.
“I’m not saying that Spain or Germany or Portugal are racist countries, but there are racists in these countries, and in Brazil and other countries as well,” Vinicius said. “But if we keep fighting together, I think future players and people in general won’t have to go through this again.”
Vinicius spoke on the eve of the first leg between Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.
