Lewis Hamilton has voiced out his support for Vinicius Jr after the Real Madrid star once again faced racist abuse during a La Liga match against Valencia on May 21. The 22-year-old Brazilian became so fed up with La Liga’s lack of action against racist abuse that he confronted some fans in the crowd himself.
Vincius’ anger with the lack of action taken by Spain’s top-flight just did not end on the field as he also slammed them via a social media post after the conclusion of the match. The Real Madrid star wrote, “The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi today belongs to racists“.
Não foi a primeira vez, nem a segunda e nem a terceira. O racismo é o normal na La Liga. A competição acha normal, a Federação também e os adversários incentivam. Lamento muito. O campeonato que já foi de Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano e Messi hoje é dos racistas. Uma nação…
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) May 21, 2023
With Vincius once again becoming subject to racist abuse, alarm bells have ringen not only in the football world but also in all of the sports.
#F1: Lewis Hamilton expresses solidarity with Vini Jr in light of recent racist events that have taken place during the La Liga game and in (overall) Spanish football. pic.twitter.com/LfM1Ij8wFw
— deni (@fiagirly) May 22, 2023
After having a look at what transpired, Hamilton took to his Instagram account and posted a story, stating, “Standing with you Vincius Jr“.
What happened to Vincius Jr?
After the conclusion of the match against Valencia, Real Madrid’s coach Carlo Ancelotti provided a detailed account of the kind of racist abuse that Vincius Jr faced on the field. The Italian manager was fuming in his post-match press conference as he did not understand why the referee did not stop the game.
“When a stadium yells ‘mo****’ to a player, and the coach considers taking him out of the field because of that, it means that there is something bad in this league. The game should have been stopped,” he explained (as quoted by aljazeera.com).
“This is unacceptable. La Liga has a problem”
Carlo Ancelotti asked Vinicius Jr if he wanted to continue to play football after the player was subject to racism. pic.twitter.com/thHSZfASbA
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 22, 2023
Following the conclusion of this disgusting incident, Real Madrid has lodged a hate crime complaint. After receiving Los Blancos’ complaint, La Liga issued a response wherein they stated that they would take legal action if they identified any ‘hate crime‘.
Lewis Hamilton once shockingly revealed he faced racist abuse all his life
When it comes to Lewis Hamilton, the Briton has a thorough understanding of what it means to be racially abused. The Briton shockingly revealed in an interview earlier this year that kids repeatedly called him the N-word at school.
In an interview with Jay Shetty On Purpose Podcast, the Briton explained the traumatization he faced in school. Hamilton stated that people not only called him racist names but also threw bananas at him.
The shocking details of the racist abuse he faced did not end there, as Hamilton also revealed that the headmasters also picked on him for being ‘Black‘. As a result of all this, he felt that the system was against him.
Considering that the 38-year-old himself has been subject to such racist abuse throughout his life, there would perhaps be few sportsmen that would understand what Vinicius Jr is going through as well as him.
