Vinicius Junior has signed a new Real Madrid contract until 2027.
The Brazilian winger, who has been at Real for five years, is one of the top talents in Spanish football having scored 45 goals in all competitions across the last two seasons.
However, the 23-year-old has been subjected to racist abuse on multiple occasions – the most high-profile incident coming in May when Real’s match at Valencia was stopped for 10 second-half minutes as Vinicius grabbed the referee and pointed towards fans who had abused him.
After the match, Real reported the abuse at Valencia as a “hate crime” while, Vinicius went on to claim that racism is “normal” in LaLiga and that “Spain is known as a country of racists” in Brazil.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas also had to apologise to Vinicius after the Spanish top-flight chief claimed on social media that the forward was being “manipulated” after calling out the Valencia abuse.
The abuse has carried on into this season. Last week, a Sevilla supporter was ejected from their match with Real after allegedly directing racist abuse towards Vinicius, who praised the club for taking swift action. The Brazilian also highlighted how it was the 19th occasion he had been racially abused.
This week LaLiga announced it was investigating allegations of racist abuse directed at Vinicius during El Clasico on Saturday at Barcelona’s Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
The abuse is alleged to have happened when Vinicius was substituted at the end of the second half during Real’s 2-1 victory over their arch-rivals.
“LaLiga has been working from the outset to identify the individuals involved in making racist insults and will file the relevant charges as is always the case,” the league said. “We are in direct contact with the police and FC Barcelona.”
On Monday, Vinicius received the Socrates Award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony for his humanitarian work in 2023 – with the 23-year-old vowing to continue his battle against racism in his winning speech.
“I will remain strong in the fight against racism,” said Vinicius. “It is a very sad thing to talk about racism nowadays, but we have to continue in the fight so that people suffer less.
“I’m very happy to receive this award and to help many children in Brazil. I had little chance of getting where I have coming from where I came so it is a pleasure for me to help as many kid as I can so they can have a chance.”
Vinicius finished in sixth place in Monday’s Ballon d’Or prize, an award won by Lionel Messi for the eighth time.
The Argentine – who said this is likely to be the last time he wins the prize – went on to suggest that Vinicius could become a future Ballon d’Or winner in the coming years.
“For a few years, we have seen players that can win it coming through,” Messi told L’Equipe. “It could be hotly contested in the coming years with players like Haaland, Mbappé and Vinicíus Junior.
“There are lots of young players that will fight for the Ballon d’Or. I also think that Lamine Yamal, who is still very young but who has already played very well with Barcelona and has become an important player [could compete].
“There will certainly be others who will fight for it as well with other players yet to appear. It will be a new era.”
