Boletín 114 - Racism in football (Vini Jr), la Ley Zerolo y VOX.
Boletín 114 - Racism in football (Vini Jr), la Ley Zerolo y VOX.
+ worked examples and exercises to complete on direct object pronouns.
The dust is settling on a national scandal that rocked Spain last week. Brazilian Real Madrid star Vini Jr was racially abused for the 10th time. Subsequently, a group of men and one 14-year-old (now arrested) hung an effigy of him from a bridge.
👋Welcome to Boletín, an English-language newsletter covering historical, cultural and topical stories related to the A Level Spanish course.
🤯I started making these for my A Level students in 2020 and now there are 1,500+ of you reading! This week:
Edition 114 of Boletín.
Racism and La Liga (the recent Vini Jr case).
La ley de la igualdad de trato y la no discriminación y ley contra la violencia, el racismo, la xenofobia y la intolerancia en el deporte.
Tier 2 & 3 vocabulary, grammar search for students and direct object pronouns.
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📌Edition 114.
How many black Spanish footballers can you name off the top of your head?
Why are Spanish football fans so flagrantly racist?
How does the law in Spain protect Spaniards and those seeking Spanish citizenship?
In the second year of the WJEC A Level course we cover immigration, integration, diversity, discrimination, marginalisation, cultural enrichment and difference. In this 114th edition of Boletín we explore the recent Vini Jr case (detailed below) and the national debate which opened in Spain about racism.
To any A Level students interested in football considering doing an IRP on el clásico I implore you to read this edition and reconsider.
If you are a teacher with football interested students please do pass this onto them!
Racism in Spain.
Racism proliferates in Spanish football stadiums.
How many times have we heard this?
We’ve been here before when Morocco knocked Spain out of the World Cup, it was sadly all too predictable.
Real Madrid star Vini Jr is the latest victim but he’s no stranger to racist abuse. The most recent abuse away to Valencia was the 10th reported instance of racism directed towards Vini Jr since 2021.
As recently as December 2022 he was racially abused in Valladolid and took to Twitter to say:
Racists continue to go to stadiums and watch the biggest club in the world up close and LaLiga continues to do nothing.
The previous September Vini Jr had been criticised by agent Pedro Bravo for his dance celebration and told during a television discussion to “stop playing the monkey”.
On 21st May 2023 Real Madrid were away to Valencia. The ugly scenes which transpired went around the world.
Valencian fans in the Mestalla taunted Vini Jr with chants of “Vinícius, eres un mono” (Vinícius, you’re a monkey). Vini Jr confronts the fans when one calls him a mono and refuses to play on, the referee is made aware and is asked to stop the game by Vini Jr’s manager Carlo Ancelotti, the stadium tannoy announces “insults and racism will not be tolerated” but the game continues.
A little later trouble kicks off with Vini Jr being aggressively pushed and in the subsequent struggle he is adjudged to have committed a red card offence and is sent off.
Vini Jr took to his socials again to vent his frustrations which was met by a staggering response from LaLiga president, Javier Tebas, who said:
Before criticising and insulting LaLiga it is necessary that you educate yourself, Vini Jr. Do not let yourself be manipulated.
So, what has happened as a result?
Beyond the tarnishing of Spain’s global image and a huge (social) media frenzy there have been some tangible repercussions for Valencia CF who have been sanctioned with a partial stadium closure for five matches. Three people have also been detained and the club have been fined £39,000. The red card which Vini Jr was shown during the game (very unfairly so!) has also been rescinded.
Valencia have called the decision to partially close their stadium "disproportionate, unjust and unprecedented" and said they intend to appeal against that part of the sanction.1
🤦♂️Edit: Valencia’s appeal was successful. The partial closure has been reduced to three games and the fine has been cut to £23,400.
🤦♂️Edit 2: Vini has been racially abused twice more since the posting of this. Once in Seville where the perpertrator was immediatly kicked out the stadium and again during the clásico where Catalan supports threw bananas in his direction.
In a separate related incident four people were arrested in Madrid for hanging an effigy of Vini Jr off a bridge.2
A huge national debate about racism has opened up. Madrid players, in a show of support, all donned a Vini Jr shirt recently before a banner which said “Vinícius somos todos, basta ya”. The response back home in Brazil has been huge with a massive public showing of support and politicians having their say.
What have people had to say in Spain?
Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, said on Twitter:
Tolerancia cero con el racismo en el fútbol. El deporte se fundamenta en los valores de la tolerancia y el respeto. El odio y la xenofobia no deben tener cabida en nuestro fútbol ni en nuestra sociedad
Carlo Ancelotti, Vini Jr’s manager, said in a press conference:
A ver qué pasa. Estoy muy curioso a ver qué pasa. No pasa nada porque ha pasado muchas veces en otros estadios y, ¿qué ha pasado? Nada.
Xavi, former Barcelona legend turned manager, had his say:
Yo creo que es un tema educacional. Creo que es un tema de educar a las nuevas generaciones. Sí, si nos quedamos como estamos pues no, entonces no avanzaremos. Pero, si por ejemplo el otro día se para el partido y los futbolistas se van para casa pues ya estamos educando a la gente. Yo creo que hay que cambiar eso a nivel educacional. Las nuevas generaciones, los niños, que vean que el insulto no es lo normal. Eso no es normal. Para mí no es normal que me insulten en un trabajo ¿no? Pues entonces ah hay que cambiar cosas. Si no funcionan hay que cambiar. Creo que es tema ya de los estamentos, de las instituciones, del Gobierno, del presidente de LaLiga. Que esto hay que cambiarlo para educar a la gente y que erradiquemos ya de una vez el racismo.
Is this an isolated case?
In 2021, according to the Interior Ministry’s released report, police investigated 1,802 hate crimes in Spain. The total figure of crimes recorded is hard to find but during the same year ending March 2021, there were 124,104 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. The difference, I suppose, is between recorded and investigated.
The Spanish figure of 1,802 is up 5.6% from 2019 – the last year the offenses were studied – and up 42% from five years ago. Racism and xenophobia were the leading causes of hate crimes in Spain, representing 35% of the total. They surged 24% compared to 2019.3 There is no publicly available data for 2022 that I could find.
What does the law say?
There appear to be a couple of laws which can be brought to bare against discrimination based on skin colour, race, religion and ethnicity.
The ley de la igualdad de trato y la no discriminación (Ley Zerolo) seeks to:
garantizar y promover el derecho a la igualdad de trato y no discriminación, respetar la igual dignidad de las personas en desarrollo de los artículos 9.2, 10 y 14 de la Constitución.
it continues…
Nadie podrá ser discriminado por razón de nacimiento, origen racial o étnico, sexo, religión, convicción u opinión, edad, discapacidad, orientación o identidad sexual, expresión de género, enfermedad o condición de salud, estado serológico y/o predisposición genética a sufrir patologías y trastornos, lengua, situación socioeconómica, o cualquier otra condición o circunstancia personal o social.
The ley contra la violencia, el racismo, la xenofobia y la intolerancia en el deporte seeks to:
Mantener la seguridad ciudadana y el orden público en los espectáculos deportivos con ocasión de la celebración de competiciones y espectáculos deportivos.
Eliminar el racismo, la discriminación racial y la discriminación de las personas por razón de orientación sexual, así como garantizar el principio de igualdad de trato en el deporte.
Infractions of this second law are classified as either grave (serious) or muy grave. Definitions of these are set out in articles 34 and 35.
Very serious infractions (article 34):
La participación activa en actos violentos, racistas, xenófobos o intolerantes o que fomenten este tipo de comportamientos en el deporte.
Serious infractions (article 35):
Los comportamientos y actos de menosprecio o desconsideración a una persona o grupo de personas en relación con su origen racial o étnico.
✒️The three texts.
Vinícius Júnior.4
Vinícius Júnior está harto. El delantero del Real Madrid, objeto de cánticos racistas desde las gradas de los estadios españoles durante las dos últimas temporadas, recurrió a las redes sociales tras el último ataque que sufrió el domingo, cuando unos aficionados de Valencia lo llamaron mono. Esta vez, no solo se dirigió a sus agresores, sino también a la propia España. “El racismo es normal en La Liga. La competición lo considera normal, la federación también y los rivales lo fomentan”. España, dijo, estaba siendo conocida en su Brasil natal “como un país de racistas”.
La Ley Zerolo.5
El Congreso ha aprobado la ley de la igualdad de trato y la no discriminación (Ley Zerolo) para prevenir y eliminar todas las formas de discriminación. La norma establece que nadie podrá ser discriminado por razón de nacimiento, origen racial o étnico, sexo o religión, convicción u opinión, edad, discapacidad, orientación o identidad sexual, expresión de género, enfermedad, estado de salud, situación socioeconómica o cualquier otra condición o circunstancia personal o social. Hace frente así a todas las formas de discriminación, especialmente al antigitanismo, que lo reconoce como un delito de odio..
VOX.6
Los gritos a Vini Jr no han sido el episodio racista más grave que se ha dado la última semana. Ha sido el más mediático, el que más ha indignado, el que más repercusión internacional ha tenido, pero no el más grave. El suceso racista más peligroso ha sido realizado por Vox con la publicación de un cartel en el que señala los nombres de inmigrantes árabes que han cobrado ayudas al alquiler de la Comunidad de Madrid. El racismo es un problema estructural en España, entre otras cosas porque un partido racista como Vox es naturalizado como un actor político más con el que es aceptable pactar y llegar a acuerdos de gobierno.
🗝️Tier 2/3 vocabulary.
Estar harto (vb) - to be sick of something/fed up.
Un cántico (nms) - a chant.
Recurrir (vb) - to turn to.
Establecer (vb) - to stipulate.
Hacer frente a (vb) - to tackle, confront, deal with, face up to.
Un delito de odio (nms) - a hate crime.
Mediático (adj) - high-profile.
Indignar (vb) - to make angry.
Alquiler (nms) - rent.
Un suceso (nms) - an event, incident or happening.
Cobrar ayuda (vb) - to collect money.
Pactar (vb) - to make (political) deals with.
🔍Grammar to look out for.
Adjectives.
The preterite tense (regular and irregular forms).
The past progressive.
Direct object pronouns.
The present perfect.
.
🧠A Level structures.
Language flows better with direct object pronouns (DOPS) and whilst these are more commonly taught during KS4 it’s often the case that they still require work during KS5.
In Spanish the DOPS are:
Me - me
Te - you
Lo/la - s/he or it
Nos - us
Os - you (plural)
Los/las - them
A direct object pronoun identifies who or what receives the action of a verb. Often you can ask the question "“who?” or “what?” to identify the DOP. Direct object pronouns should agree in number, person, and gender with their antecedents.
The antecedent is a fancy word for the noun the DOP is replacing in the sentence.
Worked examples:
Compro un libro (I buy a book).
The answers to the question “¿Qué compras?” identifies un libro as the DOP. Un libro is a masculine singular noun so is replaced by lo.
DOPs, in most cases, are usually placed before the conjugated verb in a sentence. In the case of the example above the rewritten form would be “Lo compro”.
Identify the objects in each of the following sentences and circle the correct DOP.
Mi hermana come una manzana. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Roberto lee un libro interesante. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
María compra un regalo. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
El perro persigue al gato. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Yo veo a Juan en el parque. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Marta prepara la cena. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Pablo necesita una nueva computadora. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Los estudiantes estudian el inglés. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Mi padre compra flores. (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las)
Now re-write the sentences replacing the object with a DOP. Remember to place the DOP before the conjugated verb.
An exception to the rule.
When an infinitive structure is used with an object the resulting sentence with a DOP can vary person to person.
Voy a comprar un libro (I’m going to buy a book).
The general rule of placing the DOP before the conjugated verb holds water as we can correctly write “Lo voy a comprar”. However, in this case we can also attach the DOP to the end of the infinitive and end up with “Voy a comprarlo”.
Re-write the following sentences with a DOP attached to the infinitive.
Quiero comprar una manzana.
Roberto necesita leer un libro interesante.
Maria va a comprar un regalo.
Voy a ver a Juan en el parque.
Marta no quiere preparar la cena.
Your final task is to read text one above and locate the DOPS in bold. Notice how they facilitate easier reading and fluidity.
🗞️PDF download.
Download the student edition here.
Ollie
❤️
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65691729
https://www.elmundo.es/deportes/futbol/2023/05/23/646c660421efa0036f8b4598.html
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/hate-crimes-continue-to-rise-in-spain-says-interior-minister/2701499
https://www.nytimes.com/es/2023/05/22/espanol/vinicius-jr-racismo-laliga.html
https://www.ondacero.es/noticias/espana/ley-zerolo-que-que-consiste-ley-igualdad-trato-discriminacion_2022063062bddab075230700010f942b.html
https://www.lasexta.com/el-muro/antonio-maestre/vox-representa-quien-grita-mono-vinicius_20230524646dc8f4ea31940001b4882d.html