October 25th 2023.
Vinicius Jr was yet again the subject of racist abuse last weekend, and Barcelona have apologized for their club director's inflammatory comments. Miquel Camps had posted on Twitter that the Real Madrid star, who was targeted by Sevilla fans during their 1-1 draw last weekend, "deserves a slap for being a clown and a joker".
The post was quickly deleted, but the incident has exposed the underlying racism in Spanish football. To make matters worse, Barcelona board member Miquel Camps had called the Brazil forward a "clown" on social media.
The matter has caused a stir between Barcelona and Real Madrid, with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez refusing to go to Barcelona for the upcoming El Clasico in protest of Camps’ comments. Following their own Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk, Barcelona vice president Rafa Yuste apologized on behalf of the club and said, "if Vinicius is listening to me, I want to say that this will not be repeated".
Barcelona boss Xavi has attempted to ease tensions ahead of the big match, saying "we need a Clasico with fair play and with mutual admiration". This comes after Vinicius infamously received racial abuse at Valencia back in May, which prompted him to post on social media that Spain "belongs to racists".
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