Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti got into a series of tense discussions with Spanish reporters over racist abuse aimed at Real Madrid striker Vinicius Jr by Valencia fans. ‘LaLiga has a serious problem with this.’
The insults were so bad that the referee stopped play in tonight’s LaLiga match at the Mestalla.
When it resumed, a visibly irritated and upset Vinicius was sent off for lashing out an arm at an opponent in a general melee, then sparked a further brawl after making lewd gestures towards the crowd as he walked away.
Valencia won 1-0, but Ancelotti was in “no mood to talk about football” in the post-match interviews.
“I’m very angry. What happened today is shameful. The whole stadium called Vinicius a monkey and I think LaLiga has a very serious problem with this,” Ancelotti told Movistar.
“I asked Vinicius if he wanted to continue playing, but also had to tell him he was not the culprit, he was the victim and it’s not fair that the victim should have to leave the situation.
“The referee told me he activated the protocol for racist abuse, but it doesn’t seem like a solution to me, because I already know nothing will happen.”
Things got even more heated in the press conference afterwards, where one of the local journalists complained that Ancelotti was unfairly besmirching the people of Valencia by saying they were all racist.
“It wasn’t one person shouting monkey, monkey, monkey, it was the crowd.”
The local journalist tried to argue they were shouting tonto, which means ‘idiot,’ but Ancelotti was having none of it.
“The referee activated the protocol for racist abuse. Would he suspend play because they called someone an idiot? No. It’s because there was racist abuse.”
Ancelotti then walked off from the press room, visibly angry.
I can see why the reporter would be upset with the notion of all being branded as racists, but that’s where the problem lies. Even if it is one or two, the issue is the lack of punishment. That’s where the issue lies. If you don’t punish the culprits then you’re indirectly both tainting an entire fanbase, and also telling the racists they can continue without repercussions.
that reporter should also be punished.