Tebas apologizes for its statements against Vinicius

The president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, has granted a battery of interviews on Wednesday to Brazilian and international sports media in which he assures that "LaLiga is not racist" and has apologized for the public message full of reproaches he sent to Vinicius Júnior immediately after the match in which the Brazilian received racist insults and, When he protested, he was expelled from the camp. "I think an important part (of the people), especially in Brazil, didn't understand the message and the intention I had. I didn't want to attack Vinicius, but if most people understood it that way, I must apologize. It was not my intention. I expressed myself badly, at a bad time... But I had no intention of attacking Vinicius," the Spaniard told Brazil's ESPN channel in an operation that appears aimed at containing damage.

On Sunday night, Tebas released a tweet in which it attacked the player and accused him of "insulting the League" for complaining of racist harassment in stadiums and the passivity of sports authorities in the face of such insults. "Before criticising and insulting LaLiga, it is necessary that you properly inform Vinicius. Do not let yourself be manipulated and make sure you understand well the competences of each one and the work we have been doing together, "started from Tebas a message in which he accused the player of not having attended two meetings so that the competition explained to him what is in these the distribution of competences between LaLiga, the federation and other authorities.

Vinicius Jr. case, 'LaLiga não é racista' e mensagem ao Brasil: Javier Tebas gives exclusive interview to ESPN https://t.co/Pxii9A3oaJ #FutebolNaESPN #LaLigaNaESPN #ESPNnoStarPlus

— ESPN Brasil (@ESPNBrasil) May 24, 2023

The words of Thebes were like rubbing salt into the wound caused by the umpteenth episode in which Vinicius had to hear racist insults like monkeys. The reaction in Brazil was immediate. Popular indignation that the victim was treated as the cause, as a provocateur, was joined by a government offensive, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the helm. Five ministries jointly appealed to sports and political authorities to locate and punish those responsible.

72 hours after the outbreak of the crisis, the head of the Spanish competition has defended in successive interviews the work done by his team to banish racism from football fields. "When I became president of LaLiga in 2013, there were racist, homophobic chants and other insults against Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos... We started a fight and won. There are no chants in most stadiums anymore. And now, since 2020, we are denouncing everything to the Prosecutor's Office."

But the executive also recognizes that the complaints have not gone far, that the Prosecutor's Office has filed some, that others are slow. "That's why we're changing the strategy and going straight to the [hate crimes] courts. Justice takes time, and Vinicius is right to complain about it. I would like justice to be resolved quickly. But the truth is that the Competitions Committee of the Spanish Federation could also have acted faster, as happened yesterday, "in reference to the arrest on Tuesday of three Valencia fans and four Atletico fans suspected of having placed in January a doll that simulated the hanging of Vinicius Júnior.

At the suggestion of the Brazilian that he considers looking for another league if the harassment does not stop, Tebas assures that he will be in charge of protecting him so that he remains in Spain. "We love him so much that we will continue to defend, denounce and imprison anyone who offends Vinicius. As we did with those who insulted Iñaki Williams. We are already doing that. We cannot tolerate (attacks) any player and so it will be with Vinicius. We won't stop until we wipe them all out, whether it's one or 100."

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