Vinicius Junior celebration: Real Madrid star practiced dance in training

Vinicius Junior and Real Madrid have both released statements after the player was subjected to racial abuse over his goal celebrations.

Pedro Bravo, President of the Spanish Agents association, slammed the Brazilian while he was a guest on El Chiringuito and said the Los Blancos star was not respecting the opposition.

Bravo even compared Vinicius’ behaviour after scoring against Mallorca last Sunday to that of a monkey, which deservedly received some serious backlash on social media.

The Madrid-based agent has since apologised for his abhorrent words on Twitter, but Vinicius and Real Madrid have rightly come out and condemned his actions with statements of their own.

In a video posted online, Vinicius said: “They say that happiness bothers. The happiness of a victorious black Brazilian in Europe bothers much more.

“But my desire to win, my smile and the sparkle in my eyes are much bigger than that. You can’t even imagine it. I was a victim of a xenophobic and racist comment. But none of that started yesterday.”

“Weeks ago they began to criminalize my dances. Dances that are not mine. They belong to Ronaldinho, Neymar, [Lucas] Paqueta, [Antoine] Griezmann, Joao Felix, Matheus Cunha… they belong to Brazilian funk and samba artists, reggaeton singers, and black Americans. Those are dances to celebrate the cultural diversity of the world. Accept it, respect it. I’m not going to stop.”

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