Former Paraguay goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert has called Vinicius Jnr a 'f*****' and told him 'football is for men' after the Brazil winger broke down in tears when he was asked about being targeted by racist abuse in recent years.
During a press conference ahead of Brazil's friendly against Spain on Friday, Vinicius said that the abuse was 'very sad' and 'happened in every match'.
He was asked why he thought he was being singled out and subsequently broke down in tears, adding: ‘Sometimes I have less and less desire to play but I want to keep fighting.’
Videos of the Brazilian crying during the interview have been circulating online, with Chilavert criticising the Madrid winger on X (formerly Twitter).
'Bread and circus, he is the first one to insult and attack rivals. Don't be a f*****, football is for men,' the 58-year-old former goalkeeper wrote.
Chilavert made 74 appearances for Paraguay between 1989 and 2003, representing his national side at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He also played for Real Zaragoza and RC Strasbourg during his club career, winning the French cup with Strasbourg in 2001.
In May 2023, Vinicius was racially abused by supporters at Valencia's Mestalla stadium, with LaLiga handing lifetime bans to three spectators.
Valencia were fined £39,000 and ordered to close part of their stadium for five games following the abuse directed towards the Brazilian.
The club subsequently strongly condemned the behaviour, writing: 'it has no place in football and does not correspond to the values of Valencia CF and our fanbase.'
Four people were also arrested by Spanish Police after an effigy of Vinicius was hung from a bridge by Atletico Madrid supporters.
The winger has hit out against racist abuse several times before, notably claiming last year that 'LaLiga belongs to the racists'.
On Monday, he said: ‘It’s something very sad that happens in every match of mine. It’s not just me and it’s not just in Spain, it’s all over the world.
‘I receive a lot of insults while the racist is free; he is not punished. Every day that goes by I feel more and more sad about it. But I struggle on because they have picked on me.
‘I fight so that in the near future it won’t happen to anyone else.’
On whether he had considered leaving Spain, Vinicius said: ‘I’ve never thought much about leaving because if I leave here, I am going to give the racists what they want.’
Earlier this month, Vinicius returned to the Mestalla stadium with Real Madrid and celebrated scoring in front of the stand where he had allegedly received racist abuse last year and raised his fist into the sky as an act of defiance.
After the match, he had posted a message on social media claiming 'the fight goes on'.
Despite that, multiple reports have emerged this month that the Real Madrid star has been targeted by racist insults again. Reports claimed that Vinicius was 'racially abused by young fans' while taking part in a friendly match with school kids in Morocco.'
LaLiga also launched an investigation after a 'child allegedly made a racist comment' to the winger calling him a 'monkey'.
Buzckstuyz
382
just carry on humiliating them with your skills
AbrahMkonoJr
342
Why only him, Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal, The other William, Tchoumeni, Rodrygo, Moriba, Etc why are these other black not complaining being targeted by racist chants ? something is wrong somewhere..
HozyEmt
137
Racists who defend racism by levelling Vini Jr attitude as provocative, how does he engage opposition fans with antics? opposition players always put up antics to distract him from a good play and sometimes he either respond same with his antics or by performance. sporting against chants, criticisms and complaints are normal in a game. Racism is no way..ignorance football fans on this app questioning Vini Jr attitude and defending racists should learn the meaning of racism. We all grew up seeing Dinho smiling whenever he dribble past opponent. We enjoyed the fun and never claimed such as an attitude or bad antics. Why is Vini Jr case different? Why is he targeted by opposition fans? Why should scoring and dancing claimed to be attitude? A good player can be targeted by fans and opposition players to distract the player but not to the extend of being racists. Let's keep hate and racism aside and enjoy the game of love and entertainment.
fatdimeji
15
Who does better than him among those players you mention stop being stupid and say the truth this isn’t about Barcelona or Real Madrid issue
you may be the stupid one, is Vini better than Ronadhino, Samuel Eto,even Pelle the great Brazilian but none of these players suffered like Vini. Vini has a poor attitude. you his fans are not helping him self
Juedelmpu
10
Why only him, Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal, The other William, Tchoumeni, Rodrygo, Moriba, Etc why are these other black not complaining being targeted by racist chants ? something is wrong somewhere..
They aren’t as big as Vini, everyone hates the bigger rival player, they have to take him out of the game unfortunately they going at it the wrong way