Lula repudiates racist attacks suffered by Vinícius Júnior: “We will not tolerate”

The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was present at the Brazil-Africa seminar, which took place this Thursday at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasília. At the event, he returned to support striker Vinícius Júnior, from Real Madridfor the racist attacks against the player in last Sunday’s match against Valencia.

Lula reaffirmed his repudiation for what happened and said that, during his government, he will not tolerate racism against any Brazilian or African living in Brazil. He also made a post on his social media to reinforce his statement.

“We can honor our African heritage by making the promotion of racial equality a continuous axis linking national policies to the country’s international performance. We will not tolerate racism either against Brazilians or against Africans in Brazil. Jr, and so many other athletes, have suffered repeatedly,” he wrote on Twitter.

We can honor our African heritage by making the promotion of racial equality a continuous axis linking national policies to the country’s international action. We will not tolerate racism either against Brazilians or against Africans in Brazil. Therefore, we strongly reject the…

— Lula (@LulaOficial) May 25, 2023

This is not the first time that Lula has spoken out about the racist attacks suffered by Vini Jr. On the date of the episode, the President went to his networks and demanded measures from FIFA, the main football entity. At the time, the Ministry of Racial Equality was also activated and notified the Spanish authorities.

Recently, the governments of Brazil and Spain even published a joint note, asking for quick measures against racism.

The ceremony attended by Lula was held to celebrate Africa Day, on May 25th. The Heads of Mission of the African Group also participated in the celebration.

understand the case

Vinícius Júnior was the victim of racist insults last Sunday, in Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat by Valencia, for the 35th round of the Spanish Championship. During the second half, fans present at the Mestalla chanted racist chants directed at the striker, who identified one of the aggressors.

In stoppage time, Vini Jr. It was expelled. The attacker got involved in a mess with players from the rival team and received a red card for hitting Hugo Duro with his arm. The reaction came after the Brazilian was held by the neck by the same player during the discussion.

The Brazilian made several publications on his social networks and received support from important names in the sport, such as Neymar, Ronaldo Fenômeno, Carlo Ancelotti, Lewis Hamilton and even Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA.

In view of this, the Spanish police arrested three young people suspected of uttering racist insults against Vinícius Júnior in Valencia, last Tuesday. On the same morning, four other people were also arrested for hanging a doll with the player’s uniform on a bridge, at the end of January, simulating hanging.

Already this Thursday, the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, apologized to Vini Jr. and stated that his intention “wasn’t to criticize him”. Last Sunday, the manager had hit back at the athlete’s statements saying that “racism was common in the competition”.