After being compared to a Monkey, Neymar and Pele back Vinicius to dance in Madrid derby
The atmosphere is tense just before Atletico Madrid takes on rivals Real Madrid in a La Liga fixture scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 18, 2022.
The controversy surrounding the game was initiated by comments made by the President of the Spanish Agents association Pedro Bravo.
After Vinicius celebrated his goal against Mallorca with a dance, Bravo compared his behavior to a monkey.
Bravo live on El Chringuito TV, Bravo said: ‘You (Vinicius Jr) have to respect the opponent.
‘If you want to dance, go to the sambadrome in Brazil. In Spain, you have to respect rivals and stop playing the monkey.’
Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke almost made negative remarks about Vinicius Junior dancing ahead of the derby.
He said, “If Vinicius scores and celebrates in his way, there will be trouble for sure.”
Reactions to racist statement on Vinicius Junior dancing
Since the outburst by Bravo, several top personalities have taken to social media to back Vinicius.
Most of those the personalities that have defended Vinicius are Brazilian including legend Pele.
In a statement on his official social media platforms Pele defended Vinicius.
He said, « Football is joy. It’s a dance. It’s a real party. Although racism still exists, we will not allow that to stop us from continuing to smile.
« And we will continue to fight racism this way: fighting for our right to be happy. #BailaViniJr. »
Paris Saint Germain star Neymar told Vinicius to dance and be himself.
His Brazilian teammate at Real Madrid Eder Militao said, « My brother @vinijr: celebrating goals is your right. And no racist comment is going to take that away from you. Count on me! And more and more victories to come. In football and beyond, always with the utmost respect for each one of us.
Pulse
