"Vini has to forgive and forget, it is not a question of racism but of provocation"

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Donato Gama, a former Spanish national team player of Brazilian origin, spoke about Vinicius Junior's allegations of racism in a match in which both Spain and Brazil will vindicate this fight at the Santiago Bernabeu. He took some of the heat out of the Real Madrid player's claims and said that what they are doing with the winger is just another provocation.

8 months ago
Spain and Brazil will fight a beautiful friendly battle on Wednesday in which both countries will show their commitment against racism. Vinicius Junior, a leading figure in this cause in recent months due to what has happened in Spanish football, already spoke at a press conference on Monday about how he felt and he was not the only authorised voice to express his opinion on the matter.
Donato Gama, a compatriot of the Real Madrid player who later became a Spanish national and went on to play for 'La Roja' in the 1990s, offered a particular point of view to the media ahead of the clash between the Spanish and Brazilians.
"In my opinion, he will have to solve this, and how can he solve it? By playing good games, scoring good goals...", the former midfielder advised the Canarinha winger. Donato also spoke out about the insinuations that Spain is a racist country in the 21st century: "I can't say that Spain is a racist country. There is racism, but there is racism everywhere and he is going to suffer from it".
"He is South American and he is going to suffer because of the colour. We can't change that, the only thing we can do is change our attitude and forget. The more people talk or the more people ask... it's a way of trying to provoke him," reflected the former footballer, who continued: "If I'm playing against him I call him black to provoke him."
The former player remembered his time as a footballer and implied that he was not too affected by those shouts from the stands. "I played with Deportivo against Atletico Madrid, I would take the ball and people would shout 'uh, uh, uh'. Every time I took the ball, this sound went up and I laughed," he said.
"Vinicius has to forgive people and forget this issue. It's not a question of racism, it's a question of provocation. They called me 'sudaca' and all sorts of things but I didn't give any importance to that," concluded Donato.

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