Racism in soccer stadiums | Real Madrid coach wants action taken

(Madrid) Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on Tuesday urged the competent authorities in Spain to take “draconian measures” against cases of racism in football stadiums, two days after the insults aimed at his striker Vinicius in Valencia .

“It happens with Vinicius, but also many others. They are told son of a bitch, queer, that your father or your mother dies… But it’s not a war, it’s a sport! And there we have a great opportunity to put an end to all this,” Ancelotti said on Tuesday, ahead of Real’s game against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday for which Vinicius will be suspended following the red card received on Sunday.

“Now is a good time to take drastic measures. Institutions have an opportunity now to take important action on this important subject. This can be a great opportunity to improve things quickly,” insisted the Italian technician.

“We’ll see what happens. I appeal here to the federation and to La Liga, to the intelligence of football fans, and to education, above all,” he said.

According to him, “condemnation is no longer enough”. “We started doing it a long time ago, and nothing has changed. After the convictions, we must act. And so far, no one has acted.”

“Carletto”, who had expressed his anger as soon as the match ended on Sunday evening, notably criticized La Liga’s “obsolete” anti-racism protocol.

“The protocol, they should have applied it two hours before kick-off (of the match in Valencia, editor’s note), when we arrived at the stadium, because that’s where the insults started. If you throw it in the 70th minute (as the referee did on Sunday, editor’s note), you were wrong. It’s obsolete, yes.”

According to Ancelotti, “Spain is not racist, I would like to correct that. But there is racism in Spain, like in other places, and it has to stop.”

For his part, Vinicius, “a little sad” according to his coach, did not participate in Tuesday morning’s collective session at Valdebebas, because he received “a blow to the knee”.

“If he has two games suspended, we will give him a week off. If it’s only one match, he will start training tomorrow (Wednesday) to be in Seville “Saturday, slipped Carlo Ancelotti, pending the decision of the federation’s disciplinary committee.