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During the show Chiringuito ShowThursday night players’ agent Pedro Bravo said the 22-year-old Brazilian should stop “monkeying” during his goal celebrations.
Remarks considered racist by many personalities in the world of football who supported this player who celebrates his goals by dancing with his teammates. In stadiums, many black players have faced racism from fans mimicking monkey cries.
Vinicius Jr thanked the messages of support in a video posted on his Twitter account, saying that “the happiness of a black, Brazilian, winner in Europe”, disturbs.
“I have been the victim of xenophobia and racism in a single statement (…) These are dances to celebrate the cultural diversity of the world. Whether you accept it, respect it or lose your mind about it, I, I’m not going to stop,” he said to the camera.
“Even if racism still exists, that will not prevent us from continuing to smile”, had assured a little earlier on the same social network Pelé, living legend of Brazilian football. “We will continue to fight racism in our own way: by fighting for our right to be happy,” continued the three-time world champion.
“BAILA VINI JR” (“Dance, Vini Jr”), wrote Paris Saint-Germain star striker Neymar, inspired by the hashtag #BailaViniJr, which topped trends on Twitter on Friday at Brazil.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) issued a press release in which it said it was “in solidarity” with Vinicius Jr, victim of “racist statements”.
In Spain, Real Madrid, the club where the Brazilian has been playing since 2018, expressed its “rejection of any type of racist and xenophobic expression” and said it had mobilized its legal department to “take the necessary legal measures”.
Faced with this wave of indignation, Pedro Bravo apologized on Twitter, and explained that, for him, “‘doing the monkey’ is a misused expression to say ‘do stupid things’ and metaphorically qualify the dances of celebrations” of the player.
