Brazil’s, Spain’s football federations launch anti-racism campaign
The anti-racism campaign Uma só pele (“One skin”), in support of Brazilian striker Vinicius Júnior, was officially launched in Madrid during at a meeting with the presidents of Spain’s football federation RFEF, Luis Rubiales, and Brazil’s CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, on Tuesday (Jun. 13). During the assembly, it was revealed that the friendly match between Brazil and Spain, slated for March 2024—one of the actions planned by the movement to combat racism—will take place in Real Madrid’s stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu.
On May 21, Vini Jr. was subjected to racist attacks for the 10th time in La Liga. The slurs were uttered during Real Madrid’s 2–1 defeat to Valencia.
“We want to show that we are in this together and that there is a magnificent relationship between the two federations. Football was invented to be enjoyed, to transmit values, for people to have fun and not for negative things like violence, much less to allow people to people who use football as a shield to convey something negative like a racist slur or any kind of violence,” Rubiales declared.
The meeting took place one day after the announcement of the squad of the Brazilian team in Barcelona, where the team will face Guinea next Saturday (Jun. 17) in the first of two friendly matches of Data Fifa. The second will be three days later, against Senegal, in Lisbon, Portugal.
The head of CBF advocated more vigorous efforts by the football authorities to curb the crime of racism. As an example, he cited the penalties adopted by the entity in February this year.
“Fines are not enough. The clubs also need to be held accountable. CBF was the first football federation to adopt harsher sanctions for cases of racism, such as the reduction of points in the championship standings, the closure of stands, and lifetime expulsion,” Ednaldo Rodrigues noted. “We need to lead a worldwide campaign to fight against this virus that embarrasses everyone in football.”
The weekend after the racist attacks against Vini Jr. in Spain, CBF promoted the campaign Com o racismo não tem jogo (“No playing with racism”), with actions to combat racial discrimination in all the games of the eighth round of the Brasileirão, from May 27 to 28.
“There’s no place for racist insults in our football,” Rubiales stressed. “It’s intolerable that something like what happened with Valencia should occur in our country.”
