As 17-year-old Endrick danced under the picturesque Wembley floodlights, the world was given a taste of Brazil’s post-Neymar era. It was an exhibition of finesse and skill as the youngster broke the deadlock against a Bellingham-inspired England side. A historic friendly in a historic venue. For much of that weekend, Brazil’s script wrote itself with the help of its young stars until it was once again deeply scarred by football’s age-old, sickening reality of racism.
This time it was Vinícius Júnior who broke down during a press conference when asked about his battles against racism. Despite reassuring journalists that he would never stop playing as “that’s what the racists really want,” his reaction spoke volumes to the relentless abuse hurled at players in the game. In response to the press conference, the Spanish federation organized a friendly against Brazil where players wore black T-shirts with the message “one skin, one identity” written in Portuguese, Spanish and English. But a single charity match doesn’t solve the ideological hatred that has poisoned the sport for decades.
Across Spain, Vinícius Jr. has faced abuse from fans without any real condemnation or correction from referees. It’s no secret that Vinícius is provocative in his playing style and enjoys riling up opposing fans. That is not an excuse to racially taunt him, yet the sentiment that he brings such abuse upon himself is supported by many La Liga high officials and fans.
Four men from Frente Atlético, a group of Madrid’s right-wing fans, hung an effigy of Vinícius Jr. from a bridge using a Black mannequin on the day of their quarterfinal derby against Real Madrid in January 2023. Months after this incident, they were banned from the stadium and fined 6,000 euros. Despite the sanctions, such a delay is embarrassing and highlights the ineffective systems in place to combat racism.
Vinícius is just one case on an endless list of players who’ve faced such brutality. Former Barcelona player Dani Alves has had bananas thrown at him by the corner flag and Italy’s Mario Balotelli has faced several cases of racist chants during his time in Serie A. Last year, Belgian player Romelu Lukaku received a second yellow for shushing the crowd after being racially berated during a match. Technically, the referee booked Lukaku since his taunting celebration could have escalated fan violence in the stands. But as French professional football coach Theiry Henry explains, anyone with a little empathy would realize that shushing the crowd after being abused is by no means a bookable offense. A player should not be punished for expressing frustration and anger towards racist fans. To begin with, players shouldn’t have to play in those conditions.
This hostility goes beyond the stands and is fueled by the anonymity of social media. During the final of Euro 2020, three of England’s Black players missed penalties in the shootout against Italy. The crucial spot-kick was missed by Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka who, along with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, received thousands of hate messages online. This targeted hate continues to plague the game and hurt players of color.
Raising awareness is important and always will be. However, many activists and players see doing so as a broken record in terms of creating change. Educational efforts are critical to guide younger generations, but FIFA and UEFA’s equality campaigns aren’t sufficient in the fight against racism. Yes, the ideal way to reduce racism is to address it at the source as well as the perpetrators themselves. But many aren’t willing to change and so attention rightly turns to the severity of sanctions and punishment.
After the Lukaku incident last year, the Serie A chief executive Luigi De Siervo claimed to have banned 170 Juventus fans who were identified as responsible for the racist chants. With the help of modern audiovisual technology, clubs are more equipped to identify fans who abuse players. Lifetime bans should be enforced from venues to send a zero-tolerance message to fans. There also needs to be additional referee training to handle in-game situations. In a recent La Liga clash between Sevilla and Getafe, Marcus Acuña and coach Quique Sanchez Flores were subjected to “racist and xenophobic” chants, forcing match officials to stop the game. Flores was repeatedly called an ethnic slur while relentless monkey chants were directed towards Acuña. Mid-game removals should be implemented to directly target racist fans. Moreover, clubs should also be warned if racist incidents occur regularly. In an era where point deductions are being enforced for breaches of financial fair play rules, smaller club penalties or capacity limitations should be enforced if such racist episodes continue to pollute the beautiful game.
