London: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday that FIFA's racism protocol in football was "obsolete" after Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior was abused by Valencia fans. The 22-year-old forward suffered vile racist taunts at Mestalla on Sunday in La Liga, with three fans arrested by Spanish police yesterday.

Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea activated the racism protocol after Vinicius squared off with fans, singling out one whom he saw abuse him. FIFA's three-step process involves the match being paused until a stadium announcement is made asking for racist abuse to stop, which happened at Mestalla. The second step, after any further abuse, is to temporarily take players off the pitch and the third step, if it continues, is to abandon the game and give three points to the opposition.

"The protocol is obsolete," Ancelotti told reporters. "The protocol had to be applied when the team bus reached the stadium, because the insults started there. "Two hours before the game, and it was not an isolated case -- someone from Valencia said it was -- sure, it was not 46,000 people but it was not one or two." Video emerged on Monday of Valencia fans chanting "Vinicius, you are a monkey," when Real Madrid arrived at Mestalla. "The protocol has to start there," continued Ancelotti. "If you start the protocol in the 70th minute, you have made a mistake."It has to start two hours before the game, and then during the game. It's obsolete, yes."

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 24 2023

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