We are all Vinicius

Age has bristled my sensitivity, sometimes I find a lump in my throat in front of the news or in the middle of a movie. But it's not just a hormonal thing. This week I have been clouded by the images of the martyrdom to which the Real Madrid player Vinicius was subjected in the Mestalla stadium in Valencia. Although I had seen them before, their repetition destroyed any pain barriers. Also of repulsion. That is racism, a form of irrational violence that destroys lives, ruins souls, debases societies and, in the case of Vinicius, leads him to fury trying to find justice or relief to his situation. And show the truth. Seeing him subjected to that harassment by people shielded in a physical and massive anonymity (we always see the footballer pointing out a culprit, but we never see that culprit), is something that we must not forget quickly. No one deserves that attack in a just nation. We cannot continue to believe that we are, if we are not all Vinicius.

The debate over whether we are a racist country is complex. Which country is officially? But going back to that image repeated in the Telediario, I heard someone ask why all this happens to the player Vinicius Júnior. And, I think I understand that, in his case, he is a brilliant footballer, who is feared by his frustrated rivals for his ability and talent. They yell at his skin color and appearance to generate a fuss that ends up destabilizing him and his team. This cannot be allowed, it is racism, but it is also playing dirty. Today football is the king sport, perhaps more for the spectacular audiences and the money it manages than for its nobility.

More informationVinicius' crusade against racism: from attacking his family to striving for change

It is true that Vinicius can take a course in meditation and resilience taught by Ismael Cala, one of the Latin American presenters star of communication and expert in contextualization, another of those words coined recently, but nobody will take away Vinicius' need for justice. He hates that hatred directed at him and those who are like him. That's why it's important for me to know that I'm like him. We are all Vinicius.

And everything else, the clumsy explanations of Javier Tebas, the words of the president of the federation, those of Lula in the G7, those of Florentino, these that I write, are almost nothing until we make the effort to put ourselves in that skin as dark as bright that surrounds his talent so that football maintains that glory that so often blinds.

Ona Carbonell, in her farewell ceremony, on May 19, 2023 in Madrid.Álvaro García

On Friday, with my eyes wide open, I decided to accompany Ona Carbonell in her farewell as an athlete. Ona, the champion, did not shed a single tear during the ceremony, punctuated with emotional winks to provoke them. His restraint seemed to dive out of that predictable emotional script by avoiding whining. That confirmed to me the elegance of Ona, probably innate but finely polished for being an elite athlete. My admiration for her is great. Since I met her on MasterChef Celebrity 3, which she won impeccably, that admiration has not stopped growing. Probably, the sport where she has won Olympic medals, artistic swimming that they call now, before was synchronized (she referred to "the synchro" in her farewell), has a lot to do with the finesse of her gestures. Like the keel of a sailboat cutting through the water, discipline and effort have done the rest. All this moved in the farewell of Ona Carbonell. In addition to being a mermaid and mother, with her example she has made us understand the difficulties in reconciling personal life with high competition.

Ona and Vinicius have in common talent, discipline and sporting elite. It is sad that in sport violence and beauty coexist with so few rules.

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