‘It’s not just in football’: young players’ families on racism in Spain

A little after 5pm on Tuesday, a young boy in a Real Madrid strip trotted on to a damp neighbourhood football pitch in the centre of the Spanish capital, oblivious to both the racism flung at the man whose name he wore on his back, and to the national and international debate it had generated. “We haven’t told him about the Vinícius thing yet,” said Mohamed’s mother, Milene Dos Santos, as she and her husband looked on from the sidelines. “If he asks, then we’ll tell him. He’s only seven, but he’ll need to be prepared for what’s to come.”

It appears the events of the past few days have been too much for many, far older, Spaniards to take in, too. The abuse hurled at Real Madrid’s Brazilian winger, Vinícius Júnior during a match against Valencia on Sunday has already resulted in three swift arrests. Four other people, meanwhile, have been arrested in connection with the dummy, dressed in the player’s shirt, that was hung from a Madrid bridge in the Spanish capital.

The 22-year-old footballer, who was reduced to tears by the latest racist aggressions, said his treatment was proof of just how thoroughly racism permeates both La Liga and Spanish society.

“I’m sorry for those Spaniards who disagree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists,” he said after the match.

His words were echoed by Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who called on Fifa and La Liga to take “serious measures”, adding: “We cannot allow fascism and racism to seize control of football stadiums.”

Those charges have forced Spain’s political leaders to position themselves on the issue of racism as the country goes to the polls for regional and municipal elections on Sunday. The Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that