Javier Tebas has denied accusations against La Liga of doing nothing to curb racism in Spanish football.
Vinicius Junior hit at the La Liga boss following racist abuse he endured during Real Madrid’s victory against Real Valladolid.
Racism is still a thing in Europe, and the small-mindedness of parts of the populace on the continent makes it an arduous task for foreigners to feel at home. The primitive abuse has found a place in football, and occasionally, it rears its ugly head.
Several players of colour have been at the receiving end of the abuse as, despite several calls to curb the ugly incidents, there is not much to show. It is galling to see that it has been all talk and no action, which has given energy to the perpetrators to continue their dastardly acts.
There has been back and forth in the fight against racism in European football, with no concrete action taken. Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has brought the topic to the fore again as he accused La Liga chief Tebas of doing nothing to curb it. In his defence, Tebas has described the accusations of Vinicius Junior as baseless.
Tebas defends La Liga in the face of racism accusations
A clash on social media between Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and La Liga president Javier Tebas is escalating. The butt of disagreement has been over LaLiga’s stance on dealing with racism.
The Brazil international, on Saturday, accused La Liga of doing nothing about racist chants by fans at matches. The accusation came after videos on social media showed supporters shouting abuse and throwing objects at him.
LaLiga have not taken the accusations lightly and has responded with a statement condemning hate speech. It said it was following up on instances of racism at the match.
Tebas took to the social media platform Twitter to respond to Vinicius with criticism. According to Tebas, La Liga has been fighting against racism for years. He continued that the statement by Vinicius was unfortunate, unfair and untrue. He decried the idea by Vinicius to publish that LaLiga doesn’t do anything against racism. He asked the Brazilian to inform himself better.
Vinicius vows to continue doing his thing despite racism
Real Madrid, on Friday evening, took on Real Valladolid in a week 1 La Liga tie. The match which saw Los Blancos triumph 2-0 was not the only takeaway from the game. A video surfaced on social media showing Vinicius being subjected to abuse at the Jose Zorrilla stadium as he walked past fans after his substitution.
Vinicius took to Twitter to complain about the fans at Valladolid. In a Twitter post, he said Racists continue to go to stadiums and watch the biggest club in the world up close, and LaLiga continues to do nothing. He said he would keep playing with his head held high and celebrating his victories and those of Madrid.
Vinicius has been the butt of racist abuse in La Liga. In September, there was a video of Atletico Madrid fans directing racist chants at the 22-year-old outside their Wanda Metropolitano Stadium ahead of a match against Madrid.
