On Friday, several well-known Brazilians, including Pelé, Neymar, and others, voiced their outrage at comments made during a Spanish television program about Vinicius Jr., who plays for Real Madrid. The comments have been interpreted as racist.
During the Chiringuito Show that aired on Thursday night, players’ agent Pedro Bravo stated that the 22-year-old Brazilian should refrain from playing “do the monkey” during his goal celebrations.
Remarks are considered racist by several prominent figures in the world of football who supported this player who celebrates his goals by dancing with his teammates.
In stadia, numerous black athletes have been subjected to racist jeers from spectators who imitate monkey sounds.
Pelé, a living hero of Brazilian football, wrote the following message on his Twitter account: “Even if racism still exists, it will not prohibit us from continuing to grin.”
The three-time world champion went on to say that “We will continue to fight racism in our way: by fighting for our right to be happy.” [citation needed]
Neymar, a great striker for Paris Saint-Germain, tweeted “BAILA VINI JR” (which translates to “Dance, Vini Jr.”) after being inspired by the hashtag “#BailaViniJr,” which was trending at the top on Twitter in Brazil on Friday.
The Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) issued a statement in which it said it was “in sympathy” with Vinicius Jr., who had been the target of “racist comments.”
Real Madrid, the club in Spain for which the Brazilian has been playing since 2018, issued a statement in which it “rejected any form of racist and xenophobic comment” and stated that it has activated its legal department to “take legal actions” in response to the allegations.
Pedro Bravo, when confronted with this wave of outrage, issued an apology on Twitter and explained that, for him, “doing the monkey is an expression misused to metaphorically qualify (to do silly things) the dances of celebrations” of the player. He said this in response to the fact that “doing the monkey is an expression misused to qualify (to do silly things) the dances of celebrations.”