Arsenal legend, Ian Wright has called out footballing authorities for ‘not being serious about racism’ and urged players to ‘walk off’ after Vinicius Junior was subjected to racist abuse again.
During Real Madrid’s 1-0 LaLiga loss at Valencia on Sunday, May 21, the winger for Real was allegedly the target of a racial attack.
After Real filed a race crime complaint, Valencia claims that police have identified the fan who made racial gestures toward Vincius and that person now faces a lifetime stadium ban from the Mestalla.
After the break, the game was stopped as Vinicius pointed out to the referee individuals who were reportedly insulting him in the stands. Later, on social media, he claimed that La Liga is made up of “racists” and that “in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.”
Wright reached out to the 22-year-old, who is considering leaving Real after the incident, as he said on his podcast: ‘Seeing him helpless, it’s a horrible feeling, because that has happened to everyone that has been racially abused.
‘You literally can’t do anything, Your teammates will try and console you, but they can’t feel the hurt inside, to the point where he’s crying.
‘There’s no slogans left, no campaigns left. When you look at one should be done, we’ve seen the pitiful punishments that’s been given out to federations, to clubs, paltry sums.’
On what should be done about racism in football, the former Arsenal striker added: ‘I think the time now is for [players to say] “I’m not playing”, and walk off.
‘The only thing that they worry about is the money, if they walk out and they don’t play, they start worrying.’
‘People say “oh you can’t walk off because [the racists are] winning”, but they are winning.
‘Football is not going to stop being racist, they’re always going to be racist. But when you start point deductions, taking countries out of tournaments, they will stop.
‘How far are the authorities willing to go to say we’re serious about racism? Because they’re not serious.’