Abuse of footballer prompts reflection over racism

Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior was driven to tears by vitriolic chants- but what do people of colour face every day in Spain?

- Sam Jones 

One afternoon last week, a young boy in a Real Madrid strip trotted on to a damp neighbourhood football 0 pitch in the centre of the Spanish capital, oblivious to both the racism flung at the man whose name he wore on his back, and to the national and international debate it had generated. "We haven't told him about the Vinícius thing yet," said Mohamed's mother, Milene Dos Santos, as she and her husband looked on from the sidelines. "If he asks, then we'll tell him.

He's only seven, but he'll need to be prepared for what's to come." It appears the events of recent weeks have been too much for many, far older, Spaniards to take in, too.

The abuse hurled at Real Madrid's Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior during a match against Valencia late last month resulted in three swift arrests.

Four other people, meanwhile, were arrested in connection with the dummy, dressed in the player's shirt, that was hung from a bridge in the Spanish capital.

The 22-year-old footballer, who was reduced to tears by the racist aggressions, said his treatment was proof of just how thoroughly racism permeates both La Liga and Spanish society.