THE sickening scenes on Sunday night filled me with outrage, as Vinicius Junior was subjected to racist chants, which were captured on social media in a way that no-one can deny during Real Madrid’s game against Valencia.

The gaslighting perpetuated by the media, the LaLiga president, Valencia and some of its supporters was not surprising, but it was infuriating nonetheless. Anyone trying to justify racism seriously needs to dig deep inside and ask themselves why.

Nothing Vinicius Jr has done on or off the pitch deserved such hateful and racist treatment. You can try to hide racism behind football tribalism but mark my words, it is racism nonetheless. In fact, let me clarify that there is never any need for racism as a response to anything.

The stands, as well as the people in them, reflect society and have continually exposed the ugly underbelly of prejudice and discrimination in this country, and in Vinicius Jr’s case, in Spain too. It’s clearly a worldwide issue that people continue to face.

It infuriates me to imagine the racism experienced by people that we don’t witness on a global stage; the kind that takes place in the street, at work, at school. I’d like to express my sincerest solidarity to those who have gone through this, including Vini Jr. 

I want a better world for you, and I will use this platform I am privileged enough to have, to draw attention to these situations and offer allyship and support in the fight against racism.

In terms of sport specifically, the support from other players is so important. It is a sad fact that sport has become both a site of intense racism, but also a good thing that sport is based in mass spectatorship. 

There are many decent working-class people and organisations to take racism on and drive it out of every area of team and individual sports. Footballers are role models and the way that they act and react to situations has a knock-on effect on those who are watching on from the terraces, the pubs and at home. 

In 2008, I was 11 and Eduardo da Silva played for Arsenal at the time. He suffered a broken leg and an open dislocation of his ankle in a match against Birmingham City, following a nasty tackle. It could have been career ending. I remember my dad, a lifelong Spurs fan, sent him a get well card signed by us kids, and that moment taught me about humility and how to treat others, even if they came from another team.

You have a responsibility to call out injustice, and remember, the next generations are watching on. Experiences like these can shape the person you become.

Spurs forward and Vini Jr’s fellow Brazil teammate Richarlison’s powerful words on Twitter have stuck with me this week: “They always did everything to prevent black people from reaching the top... they enslaved, marginalised and killed. 

“But they will never take down those who were born to be great. History forgets about the rats and looms large who fights against these bad people. We are always together, @vinijr.”

In an interview with the Guardian in October last year, Richarlison opened up about his own experiences with racism, as a child and now as a Premier League star. He was celebrating Brazil’s second goal in a 5-1 win when several objects were thrown on to the pitch, including a banana. The thought and planning that went behind that act is so sinister, and shows how far we are from a world without prejudice. 

Systems and initiatives are currently in place in order to tackle racism and other forms of discrimination, so I can’t argue that the issue is being ignored, however I can argue that not enough is being done. And it needs to be done from the bottom up as well as through the institutions governing sports. 

We want schools to be resourced to fight racism and teach anti-racism, we want amateur sports to make tackling racism a key issue, and we applaud the effort to knit anti-racism into the fabric of emerging women’s sports, but we also know so much more needs to be done. 

We need better representation on the pitch, but more crucially the sacking of Patrick Vieira as Crystal Palace boss in March shed light on the extremely low levels of diversity and representation in off-field roles. A report released earlier this year showed that while 43 per cent of Premier League players and 34 per cent of EFL players are black, only 4.4 per cent of those in coaching jobs are. 

Further action needs to be taken, whether players walk off the pitch and their teammates follow them, or fans alert stewards as soon as they see or hear any discrimination taking place. Simply hoping the next generation is going to do better is an apathetic and flippant approach to those suffering now. 

The incident at the weekend must lead to change within LaLiga, and to sport worldwide. At the Morning Star we will continue to champion sport that doesn’t just seek to take out racism, but has anti-racism at its core.