Last weekend's Clasico, won 4-0 by Barcelona, was marred by the latest case of racist abuse in Spanish football.
Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Ansu Fati were allegedly targeted by a small number of Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu, and the matter is currently under investigation. In an interview with El Pais newspaper, Raphinha recounted his experience of the incident and also explained why he and his FC Barcelona teammates did not report the abuse at the time.
“We’ve talked about it before, every person is different. Of course it bothers you, we are doing our job. We know that the fans of the other team can try to do everything to make things not go well for you and that we have to be focused, but when they insult you and those insults take them elsewhere, it's more complicated. I spoke to Ansu (Fati) afterwards and he told us what happened to him. He was more angry. With Lamine, we heard what they were telling us, but we didn't understand exactly what they were telling us. But Ansu understood. After the match, we watched the videos and that's when we understood what they had told us. »
Raphinha defends Vini
Vinicius Junior was the target of numerous racist insults, and his response was often poorly received. Raphinha came to the defense of her international teammate.
“Of course I understand that. It is unknown what happened in his childhood. We don't know what he heard when he was little. These things push people to the edge and it bothers him a lot. Vinicius is a very cheerful boy, he always makes jokes. The only problem that bothers him a lot is that I understand his anger. But I'm not in his situation, so I can't tell him what I would do instead. »
It is clear that these instances of racism must be eradicated, and more must be done to resolve the problem. This is not just a matter for Real Madrid, whose fans were the culprits on this occasion, but also for the rest of Spanish football.
Related News :