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Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior has launched a campaign to combat racism, organised to coincide with Brazil’s Black Awareness Day on Nov. 20.
Vinícius has been the target of racial abuse on several occasions during his time in LaLiga, and has now started a campaign in his home country of Brazil with a series of initiatives aimed at spreading the message against racial discrimination.
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A poster of Vinícius’ face, accompanied by the phrases: “Racism, don’t pretend you don’t see it” and “reveal the racists,” appeared on billboards across all major cities in Brazil.
Vinícius shared a picture of the poster in his Instagram stories and wrote, “This is the message. Today and always.”
Essa é a mensagem. Hoje e sempre. ✊🏿🖤#DiadaConsciênciaNegra #AntiRracista #BlackAwarenessDay pic.twitter.com/OzsfdV5dY7
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) November 20, 2023
The 23-year-old also announced the release of his Anti-racism Educational Manual.
On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Vinícius’ institute’s page wrote: “With great excitement, we announce that tomorrow, Tuesday, will be the launch of our Anti-Racist Education Manual!
“Together, we build a future where education is a transformative force.”
With over 60 pages, the manual aims to offer support for schools across Brazil to make the educational environment more inclusive and avoid stereotypes that could lead to prejudice.
Vinícius recently spoke out against racism in football after receiving the Socrates Award in October for his humanitarian work in Brazil.
He said: “It’s very annoying to always have to talk about racism, but I’m prepared for that, to always be able to speak when necessary, for everyone to remain strong because I will fight for them … it’s very sad that I talk about racism all my life, I like to talk about football.”
ESPN Brasil understands that Vinícius also had 5,000 T-shirts printed with the anti-racism phrases on the poster that were supposed to be distributed at Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Argentina at the Maracanã stadium.
However, the plan has been shelved after the player suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with Brazil last week, forcing him to return to Madrid.
Earlier this year, the Rio de Janeiro government announced an anti-racism law named after Vinícius.
As a result, sporting events will be stopped or suspended in the event of racist conduct.