While showing up on Spanish TV on Friday, Pedro Bravo — a top agent and chief executive of the Association associated with Spanish Agents — compared Vinicius Jr’s dancing celebrations after scoring to the conduct of a monkey, arguing the forward had not been respecting his opponents and “should quit playing the monkey. ”
“When a person score against a rival, if you want to dance samba, you go to the sambadrome in Brazilian, here what you need to do is to respect your own colleagues and stop playing the monkey, ” he said.
Bravo was accused associated with using racist language by many on social media and has since apologized on Twitter, explaining he had misused the metaphor.
But in a video published on Vinicius Jr’s social media on Sept 16, the Brazil international addressed the criticism and said he would not cease dancing.
“‘As long as skin tone is more important than the brightness of the eyes, there will be war. ‘” I have this word tattooed on my figure, ” Vinicius Jr said in his Instagram post.
“This thought is permanent inside my head. This is the mindset and philosophy I actually try to practice inside my life. They say pleasure upsets. The pleasure of a Black Brazilian successful in European countries upsets much more!
“But my desire to earn, my smile and the sparkle in my eye are bigger than all of this. You can’t even visualize. I was a target of xenophobia and racism in a single statement. But none of this started yesterday. inch
The 22-year-old named other players who also danced within celebration after rating. He added: “Weeks ago, they started criminalizing my dances. Dances that are not really mine. They belong to Ronaldinho, Neymar, (Lucas) Paquetá, (Antoine) Griezmann, João Félix, Matheus Cunha… they fit in with Brazilian Funk plus Samba artists, to reggaeton singers and to Black Americans”
“They are usually dances to commemorate the cultural diversity of the world. Accept it, respect this. I’m not going to end.
“The script often ends with an apology and an ‘I’ve been misunderstood’, yet I’ll repeat it for you personally, racist: I will not really stop dancing. Whether it’s in the Sambadrome, in the Bernabeu or wherever. ”
In his apology on Twitter, Bravo said: “I wish to clarify that the appearance ‘playing the monkey’ which I misused to describe Vinicius’ goal celebration dance was employed metaphorically (“to perform the fool”) Given that my intention was not to offend anyone, I sincerely apologize, I’m sorry. ”
Neither the Association of Spanish Agents or Atresmeidia, the broadcaster of the program where Bravo made their comments, immediately responded to CNN’s request for comment.
The agent’s responses came after Atletico Madrid player Keko Resurreccion warned Vinicius not to dance in the event that he scored in Sunday’s Madrid derby.
Speaking ahead of game, Atletico boss Diego Simeone said: “We live in a community in which we are all involved. We are people which is the society we have. ”
The Brazilian national team offered its support just for Vinicius Jr. “There will be dancing, dribbling a basketball, but above all (there will be) regard, ” it had written on Twitter, accompanied with a video of Vinicius Jr great international teammates, Neymar and Lucas Paquetá, dancing after an objective.
“Our athlete (Vinicius Jr) was a target of racist claims on this Thursday night time (15th). CBF reinforces and is in solidarity with #BailaViniJr. inch
Genuine Madrid, for whom Vinicius Jr provides enjoyed an excellent start to the season with 5 goals in eight games, said in a statement that the club would take “legal action against anyone who makes racist remarks toward our players. ”
Vinicius Junior explained that he continues to be working to ensure upcoming generations would be better educated about this kind of matters.
“I originate from a country where poverty is very great, where people terribly lack access to education, and in many cases, no food on the table, ” he mentioned.
“On and off the industry, I have developed a software to help with the schooling of children in public institutions without financial help from anyone. I am building a school inside my name. I will do much more for training. I want the following decades to be prepared, such as I am, to fight against racists and xenophobes.
“I always try to be an expert and an exemplary citizen. But this does not get ‘clicks’, it’s not trending on the internet, nor does it motivate the cowards to speak aggressively about individuals they don’t even know. ”