Real Madrid News
Brazil Football Federation shows support to Vinicius Jr. after fresh racist attacks
Racism has no place in football, and the fact need not be stressed repeatedly. Yet, such are the antics of certain fanbases that the topic pops into the limelight with seamless regularity.
Despite La Liga’s stringent action against racism and clear stance against the derogatory practice, Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. has found himself the victim of racist slur time and time again this season.
Most recently, a set of fans outside the Civitas Metropolitano chanted ‘Vinicius chi**anzee’ ahead of Atletico Madrid’s clash against Inter Milan, a game in which Vini had no involvement.
CBF in disgust
In light of the latest development in Spain, Brazil Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues has come out to defend the Real Madridstar as he has numerous times before. As revealed by AS, he said:
“All my support for Vinicius. I know that prejudices affect the soul. Therefore, I will continue to fight to punish and get racists out of the stadiums.”
“The CBF was the first national entity to include sports sanctions against racism and continues to fight tirelessly against prejudice,” he added.
Commenting on the steps he was pushing for at the international level to curb the retrogressive practice, Rodrigues said:
“The fight against racism in football is also one of my missions in the FIFA Council. This Thursday, FIFA announced that it will hold a global manifesto against racism in May.
“The announcement will be at the Congress of the entity with the participation of 211 members.”
“Vinicius continues to score goals, haggle your rivals and face the racists. Brazilian football is on your side, in front of those harmed,” he added, urging the star to stay strong.
Vinicius responds
Vinicius Jr has stayed quiet on the subject for a long time, the recent developments have forced him to take to his social media. In a recent post via X, the Real Madrid sensation called out UEFA for their inability to curb racist slurs.
“I hope you have already thought about their punishment. Champions League. UEFA. It’s a sad reality that even happens in games where I’m not present,” he stated.
It remains to be seen if the European body takes any action against the fans in Madrid actively engaged in such incidents. In any case, La Liga has already begun taking action.
With the international break done and dusted, Real Madrid will be back in action this weekend in La Liga, where they will be looking to catch up to league leaders FC Barcelona.
Coming up for Jose Mourinho & co., who lost their last game before the international break, will be a home game against Villarreal on Saturday.
And, leading up to the game, the Spanish capital club have received welcome news on the injury front.
Mbappe back in group training
Indeed, as per MARCA, Kylian Mbappe will be available for Real Madrid’s match against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Having been training individually so far this week, the France captain rejoined group training under Mourinho today, taking a concrete step forward towards making himself available for the game.
The forward looked relaxed and ready to work, putting his boots back on and joining the group as Real Madrid prepare for a demanding run of fixtures throughout October.
And, unless there is any unforeseen setback, everything suggests that Mbappe will be ready to start against the Yellow Submarine come Saturday.
Under scrutiny
The past few weeks have been nothing short of eventful for Mbappe, with his every action and movement under heavy scrutiny.
Playing for France, in Zinedine Zidane’s managerial debut, the 27-year-old superstar scored a goal before asking for a substitution due to a knee injury.
Having flown back to Madrid, he underwent tests, which confirmed the injury, although it was not as serious as was initially feared.
The forward then took week-long holiday with his partner that sparked some debate among supporters and attracted criticism from multiple quarters.
Mbappe returned to Madrid on Monday and participated in individual sessions at Valdebebas over the past couple of days. Now he has resumed normal training with his teammates.
There had been doubts over whether Mbappe would be able to face Villarreal after he picked up the injury on 25 September.
However, the recovery plan followed by the forward appears to have worked, and he is now expected to be in a fully fit condition for Saturday’s match.
