Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has praised Barcelona player Lamine Yamal for publicly condemning anti-Muslim chants in a recent match, emphasizing that players need to stand together in the fight against discrimination. Vinicius made the comments on Monday, less than a week after Yamal criticized chants by Spanish fans during Spain’s friendly against Egypt last Tuesday.

Yamal, who is Muslim, described the chants as disrespectful and intolerable. The incident occurred at the RCDE Stadium near Barcelona, the home ground of La Liga club Espanyol. Vinicius, a Brazil international, has frequently faced racist taunts while playing in Europe and is vocal in anti-racism efforts. He noted that it is "always complicated" to discuss the subject but "these things happen a lot."

"Hopefully we can continue with this fight," he said. Vinicius stressed, "It’s important that Lamine speaks about it. It could help others. We are famous, we have money, we can balance these things better, but the poor people and the Black people who are everywhere, they surely struggle more than we do. So we have to stick together, those who have a stronger voice, the players…"

Vinicius accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a monkey after the Brazil forward celebrated in front of home fans when he scored for Madrid in a Champions League match last month in Lisbon. Benfica fans insulted Vinicius from the stands.

"I’m not saying that Spain or Germany or Portugal are racist countries, but there are racists in these countries, and in Brazil and other countries as well," Vinicius stated. "But if we keep fighting together, I think future players and people in general won’t have to go through this again." Vinicius spoke on the eve of the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal between Madrid and Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

Last week, Yamal, as a Muslim, slammed the "intolerable" chants. On Instagram, he wrote: "[The chanting] was aimed at the opposing team and was not something personal against me, but as a Muslim it is still a lack of respect and something intolerable." He added, "To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist."

Source: www.aljazeera.com