Real Madrid striker Vinícius Júnior has vowed to do more ‘monkey dances’ after he was shaded by commentators for over celebrating his goals.
Spanish sports talk shows have been discussing the appropriateness of his celebrations, and a commentator on television said he should stop “doing the monkey.”
Vinicius issued a video statement on Saturday in which the Brazilian eloquently explained that dancing forms part of his cultural expression, and cited other soccer players, both Black and white, who also have danced after scoring.
“Repeat after me, racist: I am not going to stop dancing,” Vinícius said.
“I was victim of xenophobia and racism in a single declaration, but none of this began yesterday,” Vinícius said over freeze frames of social media posts using racist language to insult him.
The controversy also comes in the buildup to Sunday’s always hotly contested Spanish capital derby in which Real Madrid visits Atlético Madrid. This week, Atlético captain Koke Resurrección, when asked what would happen if Vinícius danced after scoring, responded “There will be trouble.”
Koke appeared to make the comment in jest, but it has been widely commented on. Brazil star Neymar chimed in on social media by tweeting, “Dance Vini Jr.”
In his video, Vinícius listed players, including Atlético’s Antoine Griezmann, who is white, over images of them dancing to celebrate goals.
“For weeks my dancing has been criminalized, dances that are not mine, but rather of Ronaldinho, Neymar, Paquetá, Pogba, Matheus Cunha, Griezmann and João Félix,” he said. “They are dances of Brazilian artists, of Latino singers and reggaeton artists, and Black Americans. They are dances to celebrate the cultural diversity of the world. Accept them. Respect them. I won’t stop.”
