It may not seem like it, as we have been reading and hearing about Vini for some time, but the striker is only 23 years old. It’s a young age to support something so big and grand at this moment alone: the fight against racist criminals not only in your country of work, but from all corners of the planet. It’s a lot for one person, guys.
Now, think about yourself at that age and try to put yourself in his shoes. What would your mind be like when facing this absurd and criminal violence, day after day, wherever you went, and even when you didn’t go? Which was the case yesterday.
What would your mental health be like knowing that, while you were doing something you love, hundreds, thousands of people are verbalizing and wishing you harm loud and clear, and no one seems to be too shocked by it. Just you and whoever looks like you.
The certainty of impunity makes more and more fans feel entitled to do what they do. Realize that it doesn’t stop, it spreads. The criminals themselves film it and post it on social media. Barbarism has become a landscape, as I wrote here the other day. And more than that in this case: it generates likes, recognition and, who knows, even some money from advertising. This is very wrong, doesn’t it make you angry?
There is another part of this story which is the collusion of structures, be they clubs, federations or class entities. Vini Jr points the finger, mercilessly, at those who benefit from a game that doesn’t stop, even with so many absurdities on the field. Something these structures are not used to: being questioned. And how do they react? Notes of repudiation that do not move anything in society. Or, questioning who suffers the violence. Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, organizer of the Spanish Championship, constantly insinuates that Vini exaggerates his criticism of the lack of action. Take a good look at yourself.
And there is a third layer of people involved in this cycle of violence, who could equally act and transform everything: the players. But nothing. One or two voices that rise up – usually black people seeking to defend themselves; one or another publication that is made and that’s it; one or two comments about the absurdity of it all, but from then on, nothing either.