The Spanish and Brazilian football federations will play a friendly game in March 2024 to address racism in reaction to the racial abuse Brazilian footballer, Vinicius Junior suffered in Spain in the 2022-2023 season.
While announcing the development on Tuesday, June 13, the two federations confirmed that the friendly game will take place at Real Madrid’s stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu.
Recall that the racism against Vinicius Junior hit an all-time high during a Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Valencia in May 2023. During the game, Valencia fans made racial slurs at him, causing outrage throughout the world, especially in Brazil.
To put an end to such occurrence, the head of the Spanish federation Luis Rubiales and his Brazilian counterpart Ednaldo Rodrigues announced a friendly game between the two countries in Madrid on Tuesday.
Spain internationals Rodrigo Moreno and Ansu Fati were present at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium during the announcement.
Though the two federations have agreed that the friendly game will take place in March 2024 they are yet to agree on the kickoff time and the exact date.
“I want to announce that the match against racism between Spain and Brazil will be at the Santiago Bernabeu,” Rubiales told a news conference.
“It’s the ideal stage for an encounter between two of the best teams in the world.”
He added, “(The game is) a way of saying ‘enough’.
“It protects joy in our football, (and shows) this intolerance and attitude are unacceptable.”
While Brazilian-born Leeds forward Rodrigo expressed his happiness with the plan for the friendly game which is tagged “The Same Skin”.
“I think it’s a great initiative on the part of both federations,” said Rodrigo.
“It’s very important to use the power of football to denounce and fight against discrimination.”
