Brazil coach Dorival has said his team need to be ready to “take drastic action” if Vinícius Júnior is racially abused while on international duty.
Brazil take on England in Saturday’s friendly at Wembley in what will be Dorival’s first game in charge before facing Spain at Real Madrid’s Bernabéu stadium.
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The game in Madrid was organised by both country’s federations to raise awareness around racism following the repeated instances of racist abuse that Vinícius has been subjected to by opposing fans since he arrived at Madrid more than five years ago.
“We will need to analyse and balance all of the information in such moments, but we need to be prepared to take drastic action if it happens again,” Dorival told The Guardian.
“Vinícius is still a boy. He is still finishing his education and he can’t be treated like this by this minority.”
Vinícius’ club Madrid and LaLiga recently filed a complaint with Spanish prosecutors over the alleged “racist and hate insults” directed at the Brazilian forward by groups of Atlético Madrid and Barcelona supporters prior to their Champions League games against Inter Milan and Napoli.
Vinícius, 23, has voiced his frustration at the lack of action taken by authorities and after the latest episodes, he requested that UEFA act upon the alleged hate crimes.
He wrote on X: “I hope you have already thought about their punishment @ChampionsLeague @UEFA it’s a sad reality that this even happens in games where I’m not present!”
Dorival wants harsher punishments for the perpetrators.
“Sadly it [racism] is happening all over the world,” he said. “Ignorance still remains.
“The authorities must take more severe action. This situation with Vinícius, in particular, has already crossed the line. The Spanish people in general are a very friendly, respectful and above all peaceful people and they should not have their image tarnished by a handful of malicious people.
“It should be possible to track down the people [who do the racist chanting] if the police put their mind to it. It is just like in our country, where many, many people suffer every day. But they are silenced by the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the authorities.”
