Brazil wore an all-black kit to promote an anti-racism campaign in the first half of their friendly match with Guinea.
Real Madrid star Vinicius Jnr has been on the receiving end of racist abuse on ten occasions this season while playing in La Liga. In support, the Brazilian national team opted to take a stand in their latest match.
At Espanyol’s stadium, Brazil and Guinea posed in front of a banner that read ‘With racism, there is no game’ in Portuguese. Vinícius and his teammates, in their all-black kits, also took a knee before kick-off.
Another alleged racist incident occurred on Saturday before the friendly. The abuse reportedly happened to a friend and adviser of Vinicius, Felipe Silveira, at the stadium. A security guard allegedly pulled a banana out. Thereafter he pointed it at him before saying: ‘Hands up, this is my gun for you’.
The Brazilian Football Confederation responded to the alleged incident shortly afterward.
‘The fight against racism, a crime that needs to stop around the world, is also why we are here”. CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement.
‘That’s also why our national team played the first half of the match in black. And today, once again, another criminal was publicly exposed.’
The latest high-profile case of racist abuse being directed at Vinicius came when Madrid played Valencia at the Mestalla last month.
Vinicius was targeted before and during the match by home supporters. He became visibly upset by the chants. He was sent off in added time after an altercation with Valencia forward Hugo Duro.
However, his red card was later rescinded, and Valencia was handed a partial stadium ban for the behavior of their fans.
Vinicius has received support from legends of the game including the Brazilian Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand, while the lights on the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue were turned off in solidarity with the winger in the aftermath of the horrific abuse he faced.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently met with Vinicius to discuss the issue of racism in football, and called for ‘zero tolerance’ from referees moving forward, urging them to stop matches if incidents occur.
On the pitch, Brazil showed why they remain one of the best international teams on the planet. They raced into a two-goal lead inside the opening half hour.
Newcastle’s Joelinton scored his first Brazil goal on his debut before Rodrygo doubled Brazil’s advantage.
Serhou Guirassy pulled a goal back for Guinea in the 36th minute to give his side some hope of a comeback.
Having switched to their traditional yellow shirts at the interval, Eder Militao restored Brazil’s two-goal cushion. Later on, Vinicius netted a late penalty to round off the scoring.
Brazil are back in action on Tuesday when they face Senegal in Lisbon.