Álvaro Arbeloa explains that UEFA have “the perfect opportunity” to take a strong stand against racism, after Vini Jr was allegedly the victim of racist comments during Real Madrid’s Champions League win over Benfica.
The Brazilian forward, who celebrated in front of the home fans after scoring the only goal of the game at the Estádio da Luz in midweek, alleges that Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni racially abused him as the players made their way back to the centre circle.
While Kylian Mbappé told the media after Real Madrid’s victory that Prestianni “lifted up his shirt to say that Vini is a monkey five times,” José Mourinho opted to suggest that it was impossible for anyone associated with Benfica to be racist, because Eusébio played for the club more than half a century ago.
“I told him, when you score a goal like that, you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was black,” Mourinho told Amazon Prime.
Ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to face Osasuna on Saturday, Arbeloa reflected on his managerial counterpart’s comments and spoke in depth about the conversations within the club, and with UEFA, following the incident.
The 43-year-old said: “I don’t like to comment on anyone’s opinions.
While he stressed that “everyone is free to express their opinion,” Arbeloa warned that “we cannot portray the victim as the provocateur.
“In my view, that is unjustifiable.
“Vini scored a brilliant goal and celebrated it in a way I have seen hundreds and hundreds of times throughout history.
“Nothing Vini does on a football pitch justifies a racist act.
“We have a great opportunity to take measures so that this doesn’t ever happen on a football pitch again,” the Real Madrid boss explained, adding that “now it is in UEFA’s hands.
“They have been making a tremendous effort in recent years, and now they have a perfect opportunity to show that this fight is not just words, to punish an act like the one we experienced the other day and not allow it to happen again.”
Arbeloa added that he believes “there must be punishment and sanctions” taken to ensure that “this becomes a turning point in the world of football”.
“We have a huge opportunity not to let this pass and to keep fighting against the scourge that is racism. It is an intolerable situation that we do not want to see happen again,” he told the media, confirming that the team would have refused to resume play if Vini Jr had asked them to do so.
“It was Vini’s decision to return to the field and keep playing,” he explained.
“If he had decided not to continue, we all would have gone back inside one after another. I told the players that no title or victory makes me feel as proud as last Tuesday’s, as well as the statements afterwards. Nothing makes me prouder than seeing a united team that protects a teammate and seeing how they fight together like that.”
“I cannot put myself in his position. We all receive insults, but I have never received insults because of my skin colour. I don’t know if I would be able to endure what Vinicius is enduring. It is not the first time, and we hope it will be the last. You need a lot of courage and bravery to come back and play as he did the other day. We will stand by his side, defending him and supporting him without hesitation.”