Vinicius silences Mestalla with brace against Valencia
On March 2, 2024, Vinicius Junior played in Valencia's Mestalla stadium after last seasons controversial fixture marred with racist chants against him and a send off for him at the injury time. He scored a brace helping Real Madrid to cancel a 2-0 deficit. His performance is a fitting reply to the chant's he endured in the same fixture last year.
In last season on May 21, 2023, Valencia defeated Real Madrid 1-0 but racist chants against Vinicius over shadowed Valencia's win. Game delayed for 10 minutes, referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea activated anti-racism protocol a possible abandonment of match if chants continues. Ninety minutes of abuse culminated in Vinicius sending off at injury time. Incident in Valencia brought back attention to racism in football and in Spain particularly as Vinicius condemned laliga's soft nature in handling normalizing racism after repeated racist attacks. Valencia authorities banned two of their fans permanently from their membership. FIFA president Gianni Infantino selected Vinicius to lead a special FIFA anti-racism committee composed of players.
Racism has no place in football.