In spite of the obvious success of many Black men and women in sports today in the world, racism is still strong and alive today in sports. As a Black person you still need to do things about ten times more before you can be adjudged the best. Things are today not much different from the 60s and earlier when many White referees were clearly biased against Black boxers. Only that now the bias is more subtle. Such was the case that the legendary Black boxing promoter, Don King, once thought up a very good counsel to give to his black protégées. He said to them that since no Black boxer can count on the honesty, sincerity and fair play of the usually White referees, judges and members of the Boxing Board of Control, the only way out for the Black is to use their right hand or the left hand if you are a southpaw to referee your own fight and award yourself victory.
Knock your opponent out in the ring and if possible send him straight to hospital. By the time he regains his conscious there he will begin to recollect what sent him there. That, the boxing impresario said, is the only way you can stop being robbed or raped of your well deserved victory against white opponents. When you send your opponent down on the canvas with a vicious uppercut and he cannot get up at the count of ten to continue with the fight, no matter how biased the usually mostly white judges are, none can award a victory to your opponent. People like the late Mohammed Ali took this advice to heart and that was what was responsible for their successes.
Since Monday this week when the result of the best individual footballer award was announced, giving victory to Rodri, the Spanish mid-fielder of Manchester City Football Club of England instead of Vinicius Jr. the Brazilian left winger of Real Madrid, millions of football lovers and followers have volunteered the opinion that Vinicius Jr. outperformed Rodri and he ought to have won that prestigious award. As a football fan and fan of the Real Madrid FC, I am an active follower of that team and what goes on with it. The fact that Vinicius did not get it was not for football reasons. Other factors, people have said, came into play.
You easily notice that the black Brazilian superstar is the most viciously tackled footballer in the world right now and he hardly gets protection from the referees. A footballer of his stature facing the same ordeal all the time from his opponents deserves such a protection in the interest of football and in the interest of fairness and justice. And, above all, in the interest of humanity. Vinicius deserves good health and his well being must be protrcted. If Vinicius was not specially blessed by God with sheer power and invincibility, he would have been frequently out of the game because of injuries. Sometimes, he is forced to remind the referees that they ought to at least award a yellow card to some of his most vicious tacklers.
When the tackles are so severe, he is forced to cry and some of his opponents and mockers begin to taunt him, calling him a cry-cry baby. This is not all. Vinicius also has to fight racial abuses from fans of the opponents’ clubs. There is no doubt about it that he is not the only victim of this malady in especially the game of football. But I think it is this fight in particular that has caused him a denial of the recognition he more than deserves for his performance on the field for the year 2023.
If France Football which sponsors the Ballon d’Or award had been left alone, Vinicius would have gotten the award. But when UEFA got in this year in partnership with France Football for the organization and selection of the awardees, the game changed. Politics, or rather bad politics, came into play. Elements who do not like or who feel guilty about Vinicius’ committed fight against racism in football decided that Vinicius must be schemed out of this award. What is more, UEFA and FIFA have an animus against the Real Madrid team over a matter that has to do with football politics and money and not the ball on the field! If this people do feel guilty and repentant about racial insults hauled against Black footballers and love what Vinicius has been doing to bring this disgrace to an end, they would have given the award to him. The Nobel Peace Prize is sometimes awarded to a victim of an injustice as a way of strengthening that victim’s hand in fighting the injustice he is fighting against. In this particular case Vinicius’ performance has been as electrifying as his pace on the football field so giving him that award would have been proper and well deserved. We all know that politics has a place in every kind of award. But it is good politics, the one of edifying humanity, which people applaud when it is brought in.
For a long time, UEFA will have to live with the burden of the accusation of injustice against a strong, nimble and electrifying dribbler and scorer of soul lifting football goals known as Vinicius Jr. I am personally happy that some of the world has risen up in anger against a clear case of injustice and the victimized has become more talked about than the man who is a beneficiary of his robbery.
Note: I have disclosed all my particulars. I am Black and I am a Real Madrid fanatic, not fan. So if you consider this analysis biased, do not blame me for any failing in character as UEFA is now blaming character deficit on Vinicius Jr. in his failing to get the award. According to the wicked, unfair, unjust, uncaring and unfeeling philosophy of UEFA, there is no letting off for an exceptional black and verydarkskinMan footballer: the victim must not complain or do anything about his victimization. But this is unacceptable in this modern world.
