Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr condemns 'racist' criticism of dancing goal celebration

By Ben Morse and Sarah Diab, CNN

Updated 1051 GMT (1851 HKT) September 18, 2022

Vinicius Jr celebrates his goal against Real Betis for Real Madrid on September 3, 2022.

(CNN)Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has condemned what he has described as the racist criticism he received for his dancing goal celebrations.

While appearing on Spanish TV on Friday, Pedro Bravo — a leading agent and president of the Association of Spanish Agents — compared Vinicius Jr's dancing celebrations after scoring to the behavior of a monkey, arguing the forward was not respecting his opponents and «should stop playing the monkey.» «When you score against a rival, if you want to dance samba, you go to the sambadrome in Brazil, here what you have to do is to respect your colleagues and stop playing the monkey,» he said. Bravo was accused of using racist language by many on social media and has since apologized on Twitter, explaining he had misused a metaphor.But in a video posted on Vinicius Jr's social media on September 16, the Brazil international addressed the criticism and said he would not stop dancing. Read More"'As long as skin color is more important than the brightness of the eyes, there will be war.'" I have this sentence tattooed on my body," Vinicius Jr said in his Instagram post. «This thought is permanent in my head. This is the attitude and philosophy I try to practice in my life. They say happiness upsets. The happiness of a Black Brazilian successful in Europe upsets much more! »But my desire to win, my smile and the sparkle in my eyes are bigger than all of this. You can't even imagine. I was a victim of xenophobia and racism in a single statement. But none of this started yesterday." The 22-year-old named other players who also