Why always Vinicius Jr. campaign exposed?
Since Vinicius Jr. accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of racial abuse during their UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday night, there has been a host of narratives, especially with the involvement of Kylian Mbappé.
The widespread publicity surrounding the doubts about Vinícius Jr.’s claims and Kylian Mbappé’s testimony is not just an attack on the players; whether or not the public realizes this, it is a tactical method of silencing future victims.
If global superstars can be taunted and doubted this relentlessly, one can only imagine the ordeal a random player would face when their abuser claims innocence.
In reality, this is not about Kylian Mbappé’s credibility; after all, this isn’t his first time standing up to racism, and he has never been doubted. Rather, it is about the “Why always Vinícius Jr.?” agenda, a forced, coordinated campaign to silence the world’s finest Black player simply for being that good.
Additionally, this is also one of the prices you pay for being a Real Madrid player, because it has become evident that once you start putting on the shirt, the media try as much as they can to put you down.
Exposing the ‘Why always Vinicius Jr.’ agenda
The internet never forgets, but sometimes it acts like Jose Mourinho, trying to gaslight the victims of the incident. However, the personalities involved have raised a notorious question: why always Vinicius Jr.?
While Prestianni, who initially denied all forms of insult on Instagram, has, according to some reliable sources, later reportedly told UEFA investigators he used a homophobic slur in Spanish, specifically denying the mono comment, the investigation continues into the incident.
But while at it, Kylian Mbappé, who affirmed that the Argentine said the word mono five times to his teammate, has also come under the radar, with those in the media pushing an agenda that the duo could be lying about the incident.
But looking back, has this ever been on their agenda?
Footballers are not saints, and could be the most dangerous people when competing, but there is a limit to what can be said, and racism has been told to have no place in football.
Vinicius Jr. has been, not one of, but the biggest victim of racist comments in football since he became one of the faces of the game, and he has had a lot of altercations with other players, but never claimed to be racially abused.
Mallorca’s Pablo Maffeo is one of his biggest nemesis, and the two have hardly faced off and not have a go at each other, but never did Vinicius Jr. claim to have been racially abused by the Argentine, who has visibly made a lot of provocative gestures to get under his skin.
Gianluca Prestianni was the first player to be accused by Vini, and the expression on the faces of both players at the time of the incident tells a story, one that the world continues to await UEFA to give the real account.
As stated by Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany, in a 12-minute interview where he addressed the incident ahead of his side’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, the reaction from Vini can’t be faked.
He said, “On the pitch, you have Vini Jr. When you watch [his] reaction itself, it cannot be faked. You can see it. It’s an emotional reaction. I don’t see any benefit for him to go to the referee and put all this misery on his shoulders.
There is absolutely no need for Vini Jr. to go and do this.”Vinicius Jr. may not be one of the most well-behaved on the pitch, but off it, even former teammates, rivals, and other players have had nothing but kind words to say about him, and despite reporting racial abuse, the public is trying to shift the narrative and turn him into the villain.
Is Kylian Mbappé a credible witness?
Kylian Mbappé’s testimony stands as a cornerstone of the ongoing UEFA probe. While the Frenchman has been transparent about what he witnessed at the Estádio da Luz, some have made the convenient claim that he was too far away to have heard anything.
Aside from suggesting that he was lying, there have also been claims that it could be a plot between him and Vinicius, while conveniently undermining the history of the two and the real villain of the incident, Prestianni.
When it comes to confronting racism, whether towards his teammates or to the opposition, Kylian Mbappé‘s conduct has been exemplary, evidently during his days at Paris Saint-Germain and with the National Team.
Once, he used his significant influence to pressure the Ligue 1 to conduct a thorough investigation back in September 2020, when Neymar Jr. reportedly suffered racial abuse from Marseille’s Alvaro Gonzalez.
He made it clear in social media posts and interviews that “racism has no place on a football pitch, and those who use it must be exposed,” and while the Ligue 1 lacked sufficient evidence for a ban, the sincerity of the players’ account was never questioned.
This frustration is reportedly what led Mbappé and Neymar to form their pact later that year: if something of such happened again, they wouldn’t wait for a committee, they would simply leave, and that, as it turned out, wasn’t just an empty threat.
Later that year, during a Champions League game with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir in December, PSG players, led by Mbappé, walked off the pitch in solidarity with the opposition, when the fourth official Sebastian Coltescu allegedly used a racial term to identify Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webó.
While many of his teammates were caught in the confusion, Mbappé was captured on camera telling the referee and his teammates: “We cannot play with this guy [the fourth official]. If he stays, we go.”
From standing up to the French Football Federation in 2021 to his current defense of Vinícius Júnior, Mbappé has a flawless record of integrity on this topic. It is telling that his credibility is only now being questioned when he has become a Real Madrid player.
Ultimately, history shows that when Mbappé speaks up on racism, it is not for theater, but for the truth, but in this very saga, he is being made the villain. What changed? Real Madrid happened.
The danger of the benefit of the doubt
Racism remains a pervasive force in football, and accusing someone of such a grave act requires immense courage, especially when facing structures that have allowed it to persist for generations.
The profound danger in doubting superstars like Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Jr. isn’t just down to them, but when the word of global icons is questioned, it sends a devastating message to every other victim.
Think of teenagers in the Academies, a random player, a staff member from a noble club thinking; “If they [Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior] aren’t believed, who am I to report it?” This skepticism doesn’t just protect the accused; it silences the vulnerable.
It has also encouraged Benfica and even the alleged to start making threats over a case they should probably handle with more wisdom.
While it is UEFA’s responsibility to ensure a transparent investigation, Gianluca Prestianni has already compromised his own credibility. By reportedly shifting his defense from no abuse to admitting to homophobic slurs, he has proven himself to be unreliable.
As we await the final verdict, football fans must ask: whose testimony carries more weight? Is it the player who has consistently risked his reputation to stand against racism, or the one who admits to a different form of bigotry simply as a tactical maneuver to avoid a racism charge?
But it is no surprise if fans stick with Gianluca Prestianni, because he is up against Real Madrid players, the club everyone but their own fans loathe.
A cast on why always Vinicius Jr. agenda
The “Why always Vinicius Jr.?” narrative doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it is a targeted campaign to shift the burden of proof onto the victim, and the public seems to be buying it, instead of being keen to eradicate the act.
For years, Vinicius Jr. has endured a gauntlet of hostility, yet the media is now willing to gamble with Kylian Mbappé’s flawless integrity simply to discredit the Brazilian.
The narrative seems driven by a discomfort with a Black player who occupies the pinnacle of the sport without apology; an attempt to punish his excellence by weaponizing his skin color against him.
They tried to blame it on his celebration. But does Vinicius Junior even have a trademark celebration? However he celebrated, it had been done in the past and no one bat a eye at those who did, neither do they question the character of white players who celebrate with the same passion. The scrutiny is reserved for him, a black superstar that plays for Real Madrid.
While he remains innocent until proven guilty, Gianluca Prestianni has not been a saint the world is making him to look. He arrived in Europe with a reputation for being combustible from his time in Velez and the Argentina U20.
The world often mistakes Vinícius’s refusal to be a quiet victim for villainy. By treating his flair as a provocation, critics continually try to turn his victimization into evidence of his own guilt at any given opportunity.
When the word of two men who consistently risk their reputations for justice is doubted, it tells every victim that their trauma will be treated as a deposition. Then, it makes you wonder if at all there is any action behind the ‘no room for racism’ campaign.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
