Analysis: Spanish newspapers prioritize the result of the game on Vinicius Jr.

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The new act of racism that Vinicius Jr. was a victim in Madrid, in the early hours of Thursday (26) —in which a doll wearing a T-shirt with his name was hung from a bridge, as if he had been hanged— horrified a large part of football fans and also the media .

But, if in Brazil the case merited the cover of the print edition of the main newspapers, the interest of the Spanish media seems to have been inversely proportional.

The biggest newspapers in Spain did not cover the subject, preferring to report the result of the game between Real Madrid, for whom Vinicius Jr. plays, against Atlético de Madrid, which happened on the same day that the doll was removed by the police.

The three biggest newspapers, El País, El Mundo and the free 20 Minutos, for example, preferred to celebrate the game that ended 3-1, including a goal by Vinicius, than expose to Spanish society a shameful act perpetrated by fans who are part of the same society.

The front page of a printed newspaper, it can be said today, is not as important as it was in the last century. Most readers consume news in pills on their cell phones and don’t even “glance”, as they say around here, on the cover of the newspaper they are reading.

However, the front page of a newspaper is still what the journalists of that title considered the most important thing that happened the day before.

And, in this Friday’s editions, the doll (also black) of a black player hanging by the neck from a bridge in the middle of the capital, like those killed by Mexican drug traffickers, was not seen as an affront to human rights worthy of being stamped and denounced maximum possible.

On their websites, and also on the internal pages this Friday, all vehicles reported the case, including condemning adjectives for the barbaric act.

The same happened with sports newspapers. The three biggest football publications in the country, Marca, As and Mundo Deportivo, likewise featured the case only on their internal pages. As if racism from football fans was a minor problem in Spain.

Vinicius Junior has faced constant attacks from fans. Last September, in a game against the same Alético de Madrid, the fans called him “monkey”.

Earlier this month, La Liga, the institution that organizes the Spanish championship, announced that it was following up on two complaints of racism that occurred during a Real Madrid game with Valladolid.

This latest piece of news led journalist Luís Curro, this time Sheetasking in the title of his blog O Mundo É a Bola: “Spain has denied Vini Jr. 3 actions against racism; will it deny the fourth?”.

For this week we reached the fifth. This Friday (27), the National Police of Madrid confirmed to the report that it is investigating the case as a “possible hate crime”. But the police noted that there was no complaint, either by Real Madrid or by Vinicius Jr.

Next Monday, the Superior Sports Council will meet extraordinarily to discuss the matter. “At this meeting, the despicable episodes of violence that continue to occur in the sporting and social environment will be discussed”, confirmed the council.

Requested, Vinicius Jr. he refused to give an interview, even to a newspaper in his country. A member of his team in Madrid even said in the conversation that “Brazilian newspapers have been helping in these cases, the problem is the Spaniards”.

For a Brazilian living in Madrid, and it should be for a Spaniard too, I dare say, it is very strange that the result of a game is more important than the wild display of a player’s public lynching, even if theatrical.

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