Valencia have demanded that Real Madrid and Brazil star Rodrygo Goes rectify his statements made about Mestalla. On Wednesday, he had remarked that he heard the whole of Mestalla calling Vinicius Junior a monkey.
These comments refer back to an incident in May where Vinicius Junior was racially abused by members of the crowd at Mestalla, three of whom have since been arrested.
After the match, Carlo Ancelotti claimed that the whole stadium had chanted ‘monkey’ at Vinicius, but then a few days later clarified that it was only a group of fans, and apologised.
However on international duty with Brazil, Rodrygo spoke about the incident, saying that Spain as a whole was not racist, but did admit that he received racial abuse too, and also said that ‘the whole stadium was shouting monkey at him’.
Valencia have reacted strongly to these words, and called for a rectification from Rodrygo. They call his words ‘categorically false’, ‘serious lies’ and accused Rodrygo of ‘stigmatising an exemplary fanbase.’
They go on to say that they will consider legal action if Rodrygo does not retract his statements.
Certainly the strong reaction to Rodrygo’s, and previously Carlo Ancelotti’s, statements is understandable. Any club would likely do the same. However it has played poorly in the international media that Valencia, and before them La Liga President Javier Tebas, appeared more concerned with defending reputations rather than condemning the racism.
Full statement:
Valencia CF categorically reject the false statements made by the player Rodrygo Goes, in which he said that the entirety of Mestalla participated in racist chants towards his teammate.
Such statements are serious lies that contribute to stigmatising an exemplary fanbase in a completely unfair way.
Just like his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who corrected his statements after the game, we ask Rodrygo Goes to also correct these false statements. Valencia CF reserve the right to take the appropriate legal measures to defend the honour of our club and fans.
Also, we must ask the players to have rigour and responsibility when making statements.
Once again, we want to emphasise our strongest condemnation of any type of racism or violence, as demonstrated by the lifetime ban for the three fans involved in this unfortunate incident. There is no doubt about our commitment to eradicating this scourge on society.
Likewise, we ask for the utmost respect for our fans and that they not be attacked with false information and hoaxes.
TOGETHER AGAINST RACISM.
RESPECT FOR OUR FANS.
Image via Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images