Vinicius Jnr broke down in tears in his latest press conference following an abundance of questions about racism.
The forward’s career has been engulfed by the topic, and was as recently as last month racially abused, seemingly by young fans, on a visit to Morocco.
Playing for Real Madrid in Spain, he was the centre of the unsavory saga that gripped Spanish football in 2023 and has been the subject of numerous racial slurs in the country.
He was was targeted with monkey chants at the Mestalla Stadium before and during Madrid’s 1-0 loss against Valencia last May – the 10th occasion that season alone he had been targeted by racist abuse. He was again abused at the ground at the start of this month, again allegedly by a child.
Now, with a number of other incidents having taken place, he has appeared to once again reach breaking point in Brazil’s press conference ahead of their friendly against Spain, the country where he has been a repeated target – on Tuesday.
‘I’m sorry,’ the forward said, crying having been asked three questions about racism. ‘I just want to play football, do everything for my club and my family, never see black people suffering.’
The Brazilian winger enjoyed a brief getaway in the North African country last month and spent time meeting fans and playing football with youngsters. as part of his role as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
Vinicius visited a school in Marrakesh and posted several images of himself in a Morocco national team jersey on social media following the trip.
Though the excursion appeared largely positive, footage has emerged on social media of the 23-year-old receiving racial abuse from onlookers as he took part in a friendly match. The source of the abuse is unclear from the video, though a voice can be heard appearing to call the winger a monkey on at least two occasions.
In the game against Valencia, Vinicius received a red card which was later rescinded by the Spanish FA in light on the discriminatory chanting he had received from spectators.
He responded to the incident in his first game back at the stadium earlier this month, turning to the stand full of those fans who had thrown slurs at him and threw his first to the sky in a clear defiance against the racism he had suffered after scoring the first of two goals against Valencia.
The Spanish press finally condemned the abuse aimed at the Brazilian in May last year. In January this year, however, a Spanish court dropped a lawsuit over alleged racist abuse aimed at Vinicius during a LaLiga match last year against Osasuna.
Vinicius released a damning statement last May saying the racial abuse he has received while playing in Spain is ‘inhuman’.
The forward, who received a round of applause from the media in attendance as he sobbed, will likely start again for Brazil against Spain as they continue their new era under Dorival Junior.
He starred against England on Saturday as Brazil became the first side to beat England at Wembley in 21 games, which saw 17-year-old Endrick score the winning goal.
He was asked by an official if he was OK to continue with the press conference before he did so.
