MADRID, 22 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid expressed its surprise at the institutional statement on Monday by the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, after what happened with Vinícius Jr at Mestalla, and criticized his “passivity” and not acting “in forceful way to avoid the situation that has come” with the Brazilian, also assuring that the arbitration and VAR performance in Mestalla was not “something isolated”
“We are surprised by the statements of the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, because being as he is the maximum person in charge of Spanish football and the refereeing establishment, he has allowed that forceful action has not been taken, according to FIFA protocols, to avoid the situation which has been reached”, Real Madrid said in a statement.
The Madrid club considers that “the image” of Spanish football “is seriously damaged and deteriorated in the eyes of the whole world” and that the RFEF, “with its passivity, has contributed to the helplessness and defenselessness” of Vinícius. “The referees, far from acting firmly and applying the regulatory protocols, have chosen in most cases to inhibit themselves and avoid making the decisions that corresponded to them,” he criticized.
In this sense, he pointed out that both Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea and those responsible for the VAR “evaded their responsibilities and made unfair decisions based on incomplete images, which were not seen in their entirety, which were biased and which led to the direct expulsion” of the winger.
“Unfortunately, what happened on Sunday and the management that was carried out by the referees and the VAR, we do not perceive as something isolated, but as something that has been repeated in many of our matches. You can never hold the person responsible for the crime victim who suffers it”, he added, assuring that he sees “with the utmost concern” that from the RFEF “no measure has been taken in all this time, despite the evident and repeated alarm signals” that he has been “reporting”.
Real Madrid hopes that, “given the seriousness of the current situation and the image that Spanish football is being offered to the world, forceful and immediate action will be taken by all those who have responsibility and powers to combat these scourges what are racism, xenophobia and hatred”. “Our club will continue working so that the values that have sustained our history continue to be a model of coexistence and exemplary nature,” he stressed.
THANKS FOR THE SHOWS OF SUPPORT
On the other hand, Real Madrid thanked the extreme for “the numerous expressions of affection, solidarity and affection received from all parts of the world” and insisted that “hatred and racism attacks must be eradicated forever” from the society.
“This is how personalities from all walks of life and from different national and international institutions have spoken after what happened this Sunday at the Mestalla stadium,” added Real Madrid, who showed “their gratitude” to Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA and “the highest authority in world football”, for asking that “matches where these hate crimes are committed be stopped and suspended”.
He also thanked the words of the President of Brazil, Lula Da Silva, for requesting “serious measures to combat this problem” and for his words towards Vinícius, and stressed that both “Real Madrid’s teammates and those of the rest of the world’s teams have shown solidarity and support” for the Brazilian, “some of them as significant on the international scene as Ronaldo Nazario, Mbappé, Rio Ferdinand, Neymar, Kaká, Jadon Sancho, Lineker, Roberto Carlos or Casemiro”.
The 14-time European champion also recalls that “the unfortunate events have gone around the world” and that they “shame” Spanish football, “as they are reflected and denounced in the major international media, which strongly emphasize the serious problem of Spanish football”.