FIFA president Gianni Infantino asks Real Madrid forward Vinicius Júnior to head anti-racism task force

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Júnior being racially insulted by supporters at a number of stadiums was sadly one of the main talking points of the 2022/23 LaLiga season. In his team’s defeat to Valencia, the Brazilian identified and attempted to confront fans who had abused him, the eighth time such an incident had been reported during the campaign.

The shameful ongoings at Mestalla led to a huge debate in Spain - and indeed further afield - about how racism is being tackled and whether enough is being done to do so. And now, FIFA and president Gianni Infantino are taking things one step further thanks to their anti-racism ‘task force’, which will include Vinicius.

Brazil’s “One skin” anti-racism campaign

Following the incident in Valencia, the Brazil Soccer Federation (CBF) launched their “One skin” anti-racism campaign, which includes playing friendly matches against Guinea in Barcelona on Saturday, versus Senegal in Lisbon three days later and against Spain in Madrid next March.

Infantino travelled to Catalonia this week to meet with the Brazilian national team, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues and Vinicius, the result of which was the creation of the task force, which the Real Madrid player will “take a prominent role” in.

Who will make up the anti-racism task force? What will they do?

The committee will be made up of players, whose main task will be to suggest stricter sanctions for discriminatory behavior in soccer. The soccer authorities in Spain have been severely criticised for not doing enough to stamp out racism, although LaLiga boss Javier Tebas insists that his country’s laws mean that the league cannot hand out punishments for racist incidents, only report them.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino: “There is no football if there is racism”

Infantino has spoken on different occasions about clamping down on racism and agrees that a zero-tolerance approach is the only way forward.

“There is no football if there is racism! So let’s stop the games. The referees have this opportunity in FIFA competitions as we have this process for stopping the game, and actions have to be taken at every level, at national level as well. Everyone has to understand this and we will go, together, until the end.

“I asked Vinicius to lead this group of players that will present stricter punishments against racism that will later be implemented by all football authorities around the world.

“We need to hear the players and what they need to work in a safer environment. We are very serious about it.

“We need harder punishments. We can’t tolerate any more racism in football. As president of FIFA, I feel I needed to talk personally with Vinicius about it”.o