Javier Tebas press conference ‘united against racism’: LaLiga, Vinícius Júnior...

LaLiga president Javier Tebas issued an apology to Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior on Wednesday and in his press conference on Thursday, the head of LaLiga discusses tackling the issue of racism.

After Vinícius slated LaLiga for not defending him against the abuse he has suffered, Tebas spoke to ESPN Brasil to issue his apology, in which he once more defended his organisation. He claimed that his message and intentions had been misinterpreted, in which case he “had to apologise”, while saying that he himself wasn’t racist having championed Vinícius as Spanish football’s “next big thing” following Lionel Messi’s departure from LaLiga.

Tebas on Vinícius

“I’ve always said he’s [Vinícius] going to be a Ballon d’Or winner,” he says.

“I say that because I think he is a very important asset for Real Madrid and LaLiga. Regarding racist behaviour, we in LaLiga have been fighting against this for many years and also against homophobic chanting.

“Before, people made homophobic chants against Cristiano and Messi and so we started a battle against that. Despite the cost, we managed to put an end to these chants. Now it is time to put an end to these [racist] insults, even if it is from small groups or individuals inside the stadiums or outside the stadiums.”