After Vinícius Jr. suffered racist abuse during a league match between his club, Real Madrid, and fellow Spanish side Valencia, many players came out in support of the Brazilian player.
One of them is the star forward of the AC Milan Women, Kosovare Asllani. Asllani tweeted her support for her former Real Madrid colleague yesterday as she encouraged Vini to continue to be a ‘shining light in football’.
@vinijr is a shining light in football.
Racism should NEVER be normalized.
The refs need to stop the games, withdrawal of points, fines, empty stadiums, whatever it takes to stop it.
The fight vs racism is everyone’s responsibility, it has NO place in sport or in our world.— Kosovare Asllani (@KosovareAsllani) May 22, 2023
She also went on to say that “the fight against racism is everyone’s responsibility and it has no place in our sport or in our world.”
Asllani is a lifelong Madridista and was also the first Galactica signed for the team back in 2019. However, internal issues at the club forced her to leave and led to her becoming a Milan player.
It’s safe to say that the Swedish forward holds both her current and former club in the same esteem, which is evident by her showing her support for the Brazilian and taking a strong stance against racism.
Other Milan players have also tweeted their support of Vini, including Rafael Leão, who also took to Twitter to ask “Quando irá acabar? [When it will end?]”
Quando irá acabar ? 🖤✊🏿 https://t.co/9TMAMdRkKF
— Rafael Leão (@RafaeLeao7) May 21, 2023
Leão himself has also been the unfortunate victim of racist abuse and can empathize with Vinícius in more ways than one.
It is a problem in football that creeps its ugly head above the parapet far too often and then is quickly forgotten about. The words and gestures of fellow players are important, but what is even more important is that a sense of tangible change is felt because the sport continues to be disgraced by such shameful incidents.
If I were him, I would take the initiative and walk off the pitch. Players need to take the stand in order to force the hand of the authorities.