THIERRY HENRY AND Micah Richards have expressed sympathy for Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior in the wake of the racism controversy that marred last night’s Champions League tie against Benfica.
Real Madrid’s 1-0 win in the play-off first leg against the Portuguese side was marred by apparent racist abuse aimed at the Brazilian.
Vinicius scored a brilliant goal in the 50th minute of the game, but afterwards he alleged to French referee Francois Letexier that he had been racially abused, pointing at Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni.
The match was halted for ten minutes as the referee applied the racism protocol.
Afterwards CBS pundits Henry and Richards addressed the matter on CBS.
"I can relate to what Vinícius Jr. is going through.. At times you feel lonely because it's going to be your word against his word."
Thierry Henry reflects on the incident between Vinícius Jr. and Gianluca Prestianni 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/qa11TICJ9H
“I can relate to what Vinícius Júnior is going through,” said Henry.
“I’ve been there, I feel so sorry for the guy. That happened to me so many times on the field. I talked about it so many times after games. I’ve been also accused of looking for excuses after games when that happened to me. At times, you feel lonely, because it’s going to be your word against his word.
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“We don’t know what Prestianni has said, because he was very courageous because he put his shirt over his mouth to make sure that we weren’t going to see what he said, so clearly, already, you look suspicious, because you didn’t want people to see or read what you said.
“Then, the reaction of Vinicius is telling me that something not right happened. Vinicius can tell us his side, and Prestianni, I’m sure, will not tell us what he actually said, because I saw at one point Kylian Mbappé that confronted him, and he said, ‘I didn’t say anything’.
Well, he must have said something at the very least. Let’s see how big of a man Prestianni is.
“Tell us what you said. You must have said something, because you can’t go to Mbappe and say, ‘I didn’t say anything’. What do you mean, you covered your nose for what, you have a cold?”
Henry later added: “The question always comes to the Black guy.
“You already know. I’m tired. You already know. I’ve been there. I told you I can relate.
“I feel so sorry for the guy because, yes, when you do talk some times, it feels like you are crying.”
Richards continued:
Imagine you have to plead to be equal or feel equal in society. How inhumane that feels? It’s madness.
“Do you know the one that gets me is like, ‘Oh, they’re playing the race card again? What do you mean playing the race card? It’s so difficult to talk about and articulate the words how you feel to someone who don’t believe or feel what you feel at the time.
“And Thierry’s right, it’s nice when you feel like you’ve got allies who are happy to talk about it, because it feels like a broken record over and over again.
“The whole about this, he’s been guilty of celebrating, just put that into context of what that means.”
Real Madrid and Benfica players during last night's game. Brazil Photo Press / Brazil Photo Press
Brazil Photo Press / Brazil Photo Press / Brazil Photo Press
Meanwhile, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has come in for criticism for his comments as the incident unfolded live on Tuesday night.
Clattenburg, who was part of Amazon Prime’s commentary team as the refereeing analyst, said: “Once Vinícius Jr has approached the referee, the referee now has to follow the protocol. He now has to follow the rules that Uefa have set out when this happens.
“The problem in this situation is that Vinícius Jr hasn’t helped himself. He’s made this difficult for the referee. Scored a wonderful goal and all he has to do is, yes, celebrate, return back, but he’s made this situation very, very difficult.”
Alan Shearer, who was on co-commentary duty, quickly followed Clattenburg’s comments by saying: “That doesn’t excuse whatever has been said to him.
“There’s no doubt he antagonised the crowd with his celebration, and he stood there for long enough, but we don’t know what’s been said to him.”
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'Imagine you have to plead to be equal in society': Henry and Richards on Vinícius Jr racial abuse
THIERRY HENRY AND Micah Richards have expressed sympathy for Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior in the wake of the racism controversy that marred last night’s Champions League tie against Benfica.
Real Madrid’s 1-0 win in the play-off first leg against the Portuguese side was marred by apparent racist abuse aimed at the Brazilian.
Vinicius scored a brilliant goal in the 50th minute of the game, but afterwards he alleged to French referee Francois Letexier that he had been racially abused, pointing at Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni.
The match was halted for ten minutes as the referee applied the racism protocol.
Afterwards CBS pundits Henry and Richards addressed the matter on CBS.
“I can relate to what Vinícius Júnior is going through,” said Henry.
“I’ve been there, I feel so sorry for the guy. That happened to me so many times on the field. I talked about it so many times after games. I’ve been also accused of looking for excuses after games when that happened to me. At times, you feel lonely, because it’s going to be your word against his word.
“We don’t know what Prestianni has said, because he was very courageous because he put his shirt over his mouth to make sure that we weren’t going to see what he said, so clearly, already, you look suspicious, because you didn’t want people to see or read what you said.
“Then, the reaction of Vinicius is telling me that something not right happened. Vinicius can tell us his side, and Prestianni, I’m sure, will not tell us what he actually said, because I saw at one point Kylian Mbappé that confronted him, and he said, ‘I didn’t say anything’.
“Tell us what you said. You must have said something, because you can’t go to Mbappe and say, ‘I didn’t say anything’. What do you mean, you covered your nose for what, you have a cold?”
Henry later added: “The question always comes to the Black guy.
“You already know. I’m tired. You already know. I’ve been there. I told you I can relate.
“I feel so sorry for the guy because, yes, when you do talk some times, it feels like you are crying.”
Richards continued:
“Do you know the one that gets me is like, ‘Oh, they’re playing the race card again? What do you mean playing the race card? It’s so difficult to talk about and articulate the words how you feel to someone who don’t believe or feel what you feel at the time.
“And Thierry’s right, it’s nice when you feel like you’ve got allies who are happy to talk about it, because it feels like a broken record over and over again.
“The whole about this, he’s been guilty of celebrating, just put that into context of what that means.”
Meanwhile, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has come in for criticism for his comments as the incident unfolded live on Tuesday night.
Clattenburg, who was part of Amazon Prime’s commentary team as the refereeing analyst, said: “Once Vinícius Jr has approached the referee, the referee now has to follow the protocol. He now has to follow the rules that Uefa have set out when this happens.
“The problem in this situation is that Vinícius Jr hasn’t helped himself. He’s made this difficult for the referee. Scored a wonderful goal and all he has to do is, yes, celebrate, return back, but he’s made this situation very, very difficult.”
Alan Shearer, who was on co-commentary duty, quickly followed Clattenburg’s comments by saying: “That doesn’t excuse whatever has been said to him.
“There’s no doubt he antagonised the crowd with his celebration, and he stood there for long enough, but we don’t know what’s been said to him.”
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