Vinicius Jr broke down in tears at a press conference when he revealed that the persistent racist abuse he suffers in Spain makes him less motivated to play football.
Speaking about the friendly between Brazil and Spain, the Real Madrid winger was visibly emotional when asked about the constant racism he has had to suffer in the Spanish league.
Last season, 10 such incidents were reported to prosecutors through La Liga, and recently the 23-year-old was subjected to racist chants by Atletico Madrid fans before a Champions League match against Inter Milan.
Other cases of abuse occurred with a fan at a Sevilla match allegedly making a monkey gesture towards the footballer, and with racist insults hurled at him at a Valencia match last May.
Four men were fined €60,001 (£51,400) and banned from entering the stadium for two years for hanging an effigy of Vinicius Jr near Real Madrid’s educational flat in January 2023.
The Brazilian has faced widespread complaints in Spain for speaking out against racism and revealed on Monday the emotional impact this has taken on him.
Vinicius Jr, who struggled to speak through tears, said: “I just need to play football, but it’s hard to move on. . . I don’t need to play [because of racist abuse].
“It never happened to me [to leave Spain] because if I leave Spain, I give the racists precisely what they want.
“I’m going to stay because then the racists will continue to see my face more and more. I’m an ambitious player, I play for Real Madrid and we won a lot of titles and that doesn’t suit a lot of people. “.
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Real Madrid filed a lawsuit with the Spanish judicial government earlier this month, alleging that Atletico Madrid and Barcelona fans subjected Vinicius Jr to “racist and hateful insults. “
After the abuse suffered by Vinicius Jr in Valencia’s attack last May – for which he was sent off – the winger obtained a large amount of help that led to several local and foreign campaigns to fight racism.
Brazil’s friendly against Spain on Tuesday will take place at Real’s Santiago Bernabeu, with the “One Skin” anti-racism campaign.