Defending the soldier Vinicius
The Valencia fans shouted "Vinicius, you're a monkey" as they welcomed the Real Madrid player. Long before the youngster provoked them. Because the media scarves, always close to that team, insist on justifying everything. The same supporters who attacked Anecelotti in the press room after the match to blame a club they consider enemy number one since that 3-0 win in Paris.
The same shout they spat at him for over a hundred minutes of the match. An irreverent and always self-conscious fan. The same one that did not hesitate to ask Mijatovic about his late son when the striker chose Real Madrid to be European champions.
The fans of a team that self-destructs every season have used racism to provoke and create an atmosphere of tension to put their players on their toes. During the season, they have dedicated themselves to insulting a man who lives thousands of kilometres away and whom they once worshipped by shouting Peter Lim! The players were exempt from any judgement because they misrepresented reality with the argument that the squad was short. Against Real Madrid and with relegation at stake, we could see a competitive team and players at a very high level. Unheard of during the season.
Outside the miserable cauldron of Mestalla, the war to defend Vinicius has reached all social strata in Spain. Of course, politics has got its grubby electoral hands in to position the player on its side and launch slogans about the future of racism in Spain if this or that party is elected. Javier Tebas, as president of LaLiga, and Luis Rubiales, as president of the RFEF, have not been slow to defend their trenches because they know that Real Madrid and an old battle for the Superliga will not end well.
LaLiga denounced racist shouts at Vinicius on nine occasions before the Mestalla spectacle. Real Madrid did not join any because relations with the body are not good.
The RFEF does not take action because the judges shelve cases such as the one where a Vinicius dummy was hung from a bridge near Valdebebas days before a derby. The VAR has been so much abused that even the sending off of the Brazilian was a montage that didn't include Hugo Duro's thrashing of the player or the unhinged Mamardashvili like a wild mouflon. Not to mention Movistar's production of the match. A company in the hands of LaLiga that always has to put the good side in the shop window, even if the reverse side is corrupt.
José Manuel Franco, from the CSD, does not take part either and limits himself to condemning the racist acts because he does not want to have more prominence than the person who put him in the post, Pedro Sánchez.
The situation is so comical that it resembles that ridiculous test of the summer Grand Prix. It could explode for Real Madrid if Vinicius decides to leave the club. Offers for more money will not be lacking in the Premier League. Hence Florentino Perez has met with the player and the club has asked the Public Prosecutor's Office to open an investigation.
In the meantime, the Brazilian is playing his card in a constant attack on Spain, accusing the country of being racist. Lula Da Silva populists from Brazil to launch offences against Spain and asks FIFA to mediate. Tebas descends into the sewers by revealing that they tried to meet with Vinicius to discuss the issue, but that he did not show up on either occasion, possibly because of his club's obsession with not having relations with LaLiga.
Eto'o, Álves or Roberto Carlos... black players who were insulted and had bananas thrown at them by the fans because of their skin colour, crossing the fine line from disrespect, always accepted in football, to racism. Spain is not racist. Kubo is not called a Chinaman, nor is Bono called a Moor. The Vinicius thing is a fashion, a joke, a joke to go one step further to see what happens, because nothing ever happens. Calling him a fool, when you can call him a nigger.
And now, if you want, we can talk about Vinicius who engages in provocations and sends third-rate fans to the second division.