Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior says that Spain should be stripped of 2030 World Cup hosting rights if racist abuse continues in the country.

The Brazilian forward has been subjected to racist abuse on several occasions during his time at Real Madrid. Spanish law enforcement has made arrests to set an example but Vinicius believes much more needs to be done to uproot the social evil.

In response to the increasing incidents of racism in football, UEFA introduced a three-step protocol in 2019 to help referees manage racist behaviour in the stands. The first step involves pausing the game and asking the crowd to stop the offensive behaviour through a public address announcement.

If the abuse continues, the second step is to suspend the match for up to 10 minutes, with teams returning to the locker rooms. If the racist behaviour persists, the final step is to abandon the game altogether. Despite this protocol, incidents of racism have continued, leading Vinicius to express concerns about Spain’s suitability to host the 2030 World Cup alongside Morocco and Portugal.

In an interview with CNN, Vinicius said: “I hope Spain can evolve and understand the seriousness of insulting someone because of their skin colour. Because if things don’t evolve by 2030, I think (the World Cup) will have to change location, because if players don’t feel comfortable and confident playing in a country where they can suffer racism, it’s very complicated.

“I believe and I want to do everything so that things can change because many people in Spain, the majority, are not racist, although there is a small group that ends up affecting the image of a country where people live very well.”

In October 2023, Vinicius took the issue to court, presenting evidence and testifying about the racist insults he endured during a match against Valencia. Reflecting on that experience, he said: “In the case of what happened in Valencia, after the game – after we thought about it – everyone said the right thing to do is to leave the pitch, but as you are there defending a team, we know that not everyone in the stadium is racist and was just there to watch the game.”

Vinicius has also warned that Real Madrid will walk off the pitch if he faces any kind of racist abuse in the future during matches. He has re-joined the Brazilian national team for the international break and will be in action against Ecuador and Paraguay on September 6 and 10, respectively.

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