Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida has hit out at Vinicius Junior’s media interview in which he said Spain is a racist society and should not host the 2030 World Cup unless it improves.
Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida has asked Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior to retract his comments suggesting Spain could be stripp of the right to host the 2030 World Cup because it has not managed to tackle racism as hoped.
Vinicius told CNN last week that he would walk off the pitch with his Real Madrid team-mates if he was racially abuse this season, and reiterated that it was important for players to feel comfortable, even though Spain has already tackle racism to some extent, but if it is not improving enough then the 2030 World Cup should be move elsewhere.
While Madrid mayor Martinez-Almeida insists he will stand by Vinicius whenever he is racially abuse. He also believes the Brazilian forward’s comments were a mistake.
‘We all know that society is racist and we have to work hard to eliminate it. But to say that we are a racist society and. On top of that, that Madrid is at risk of hosting the 2030 World Cup is a gross injustice.’
“I ask you to make amends. You have to apologize. Know that when it comes to racism, you have all of us. But you don’t have all of us when you say you’re UFABET racist. Because that’s not true. When you make a mistake, you have to fix it,” Martinez-Almeida said in a statement.
The centre-right politician also said that Vinicius’ talent on the pitch did not spare him from mistakes. Despite Martinez-Almeida’s close relationship with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. With the pair appearing together at numerous events and the Madrid mayor pushing for a parking project under the Santiago Bernabeu stadium that would greatly benefit Los Blancos.
‘Being a great footballer doesn’t mean he can’t make mistakes, and this time he did. Vinicius has a large part of Spanish society on his side to fight racism. But we can’t stand by him when he accuses the whole of Spanish society. And Madrid society in particular, of being racist, because I can’t accept that. ‘
‘He has to appreciate the fact that he lives in one of the most open. Welcoming and diverse cities in the world. The peculiarity of Madrid is that no one is ask where they are from or where they are going. Here, no one is take into account or discriminated against. The fact that he has experience some unfortunate events cannot be a reason to call the whole of Spanish society racist and say that the 2030 World Cup should not be held here. ‘
However, Martinez-Almeida may not have watched the interview. As Vinicius has made it clear that he does not believe the entire Spanish society is racist and that there needs to be more improvement in how the country deals with the issue. But the Brazilian forward has also spoken about hosting the 2030 World Cup elsewhere in case racist incidents continue in the future.