Brazil coach Dorival emphasized the necessity for his team to prepare for the possibility of “taking drastic action” in response to any racial abuse directed at Vinícius Júnior during international duty.
As Brazil gears up for a friendly against England at Wembley, marking Dorival’s debut game in charge, followed by a match against Spain at Real Madrid’s Bernabéu stadium,
the coach is underlining the importance of readiness to confront racism head-on and defend their players’ dignity and rights on the field.
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Doriva said:
“We will need to analyse and balance all of the information in such moments, but we need to be prepared to take drastic action if it happens again.”
“Vinícius is still a boy. He is still finishing his education and he can’t be treated like this by this minority.”
Madrid’s club and LaLiga recently lodged a complaint with Spanish prosecutors regarding the purported “racist and hateful insults”
aimed at Brazilian forward Vinícius by factions of Atlético Madrid and Barcelona supporters before their Champions League matches against Inter Milan and Napoli.
At 23, Vinícius expressed his dismay over the authorities’ inaction and urged UEFA to address the alleged hate incidents following the latest occurrences.
He said:
“I hope you have already thought about their punishment @ChampionsLeague @UEFA it’s a sad reality that this even happens in games where I’m not present!”
Dorival wants harsher punishments for the perpetrators.
“Sadly it [racism] is happening all over the world,” he said. “Ignorance still remains.
“The authorities must take more severe action. This situation with Vinícius, in particular, has already crossed the line.
The Spanish people in general are a very friendly, respectful and above all peaceful people and they should not have their image tarnished by a handful of malicious people.
“It should be possible to track down the people [who do the racist chanting] if the police put their mind to it.
It is just like in our country, where many, many people suffer every day. But they are silenced by the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the authorities.”
