From Eto'o to Vinicius: 17 years of racist insults, filed complaints and "consequences"

February 25, 2006, La Romareda, Zaragoza. Samuel Eto'o threatens to leave the field after receiving racist insults. “I don't play anymore.”

May 21, 2023, Mestalla, Valencia. Vinicius Júnior suffers racist insults from the stands and threatens to go to the locker room. “It's the usual. He called me a monkey.”

Between Eto'o and Vinicius, 17 long years have passed in which Spanish football has evolved in many things except one: there are people, even a minority, who continue to use the skin color of their football rival to insult him. “Insulting because of skin color is a trend that is growing and will not stop until it is severely sanctioned,” criticized the Cameroonian in 2006. There are the examples during these years: Dani Alves, Iñaki Williams, Diakhaby, Akapo, Umtiti, Marcelo, Pape Diop, Paulao, Nyom…

Ancelotti supports Vinicius: “He is not a person who has gone crazy, he is an entire stadium”

At the time, Zaragoza received the largest fine in the history of Spanish football for this matter: 9,000 euros. A “ridiculous” amount, as Joseph Blatter, FIFA president, and Eto'o himself assessed at the time: “You have to have a strong hand, but not with money. We must look for solutions together, to see if ordinary justice can also help”, asked the Barcelona footballer.

Now, in the middle of 2023, those statements by Eto'o serve to develop the context of what Vinicius suffered at Mestalla. The Brazilian, sent off for a direct red card for a slap on Hugo Duro and facing the stands, to which he gestured “to Second Division”, received chants such as “you are a monkey”, “fucking black” or “uh” throughout the match , uh, uh” and as he got off the bus dozens of people chanted “you're a monkey”. The racist problem is real.

Vinicius, “affected”

Encouraged by his entourage, who yesterday cried out for the “shame” that Spanish football has become, Vinicius published a harsh statement on his social networks in which he described Spain as “a racist country”.. The Brazilian, with more than 40 million followers among all his profiles, is “very affected” with everything that is happening, according to what this newspaper learned, but he is not considering leaving Madrid. The striker received the support of his teammates, other footballers, clubs and stars from other sports, with special affection from Brazil and England. In his country, the president, Lula da Silva, even spoke out, and in the British Isles, with the always tempting interest of English football in gaining his services, legends like Rio Ferdinand came up with insults: “Who protects you in Spain, Vini? How many times will we have to see him go through the same shit? He needs help and the authorities don't do shit, he can't stay under the rug any longer.”

The reality is that there is much reason in the message of Ferdinand, former Manchester United captain. Only during this season, LaLiga, which cannot penalize or close stands or stadiums (RFEF competence) has already sent seven complaints derived from racist insults to Vinicius. 7 in 35 days. If we take into account that all have occurred in the games that the footballer has played away from home, it would be 7 in 16, almost 50%. Nine if we add the two carried out last year. Complaints that have gone to the file of the RFEF Competition Committee, the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport and the Hate Prosecutor's Office.

According to LaLiga sources consulted by EL MUNDO, given “the constant filing of these complaints”, the organization raised these claims to the local Courts where the racist insults had occurred.

Timeline of complaints

The first complaint came after the October 2021 classic at the Camp Nou, which was filed because the Police “could not identify” the attackers. Months later, in Mallorca, the Prosecutor's Office filed the complaint because “the sounds made, profane, despicable, vexatious and unfortunate, do not seem to cover the criminal dimension that is postulated”. The Madrid derby in September last year was a turning point due to the “Baila Vini Jr” controversy, but the racist insults heard in the Metropolitan were also filed for “not integrating a crime against the dignity of the person.”

After the match against Valladolid, in December 2022, LaLiga went to the ordinary courts for the first time and the Pucela team opened a file on 11 identified. And the derby arrived again, the banner and the doll of Vinicius hanging from a bridge near Valdebebas, which is still being investigated by the Investigating Court No. 28 of Madrid.

Then Vinicius would return to Mallorca, where he would be insulted again. After LaLiga's complaint in the Courts of Palma and the statement by the Brazilian, a fine of 4,000 euros and 12 months of exclusion from sports venues was proposed for one of the fans and the withdrawal of the license for two more.

The sanction did not serve as an example, and Vinicius received racist insults again, denounced by LaLiga, in El Sadar, Benito Villamarín and the Camp Nou.

Madrid prepares the “consequences”

In Madrid there is “discomfort and concern” about this whole situation and the club is already preparing the “consequences” of everything that has been experienced with Vinicius in recent months. The white team has already issued a statement and has denounced the insults to the Prosecutor's Office, but it will not stop there. He will wait for the investigation to be resolved and work is being done to give the player a lot of “love” in the next home games. In Valdebebas they do not understand that they have not acted more harshly in the sanctions and they cry out against LaLiga and the Federation.