Real Madrid star Bellingham is ‘used to horrible, serious problem’ of racist abuse in Spain

A racist gesture was made towards France’s Aurélien Tchouaméni after he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Real Mallorca on Saturday. Mallorca publicly condemned the gesture and said they are working with police to identify the culprit. ALSO READ: Yet another racist incident as Mallorca fan makes monkey gestures at Real Madrid game.

Brazilian star Vinícius Júnior has been a repeated target of racial abuse and Bellingham said that he and his teammates were ‘used to’ have to deal with ‘horrible’ treatment. ALSO READ: Vinícius breaks down while talking about racist insults he’s suffered in Spain.

‘I think in the games where we go away in La Liga especially, you almost get so used to it,’ said Bellingham at a pre-match press conference ahead of Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final, second leg away to Manchester City.

In a transcript of his comments during the press conference, posted on Real Madrid’s website, Bellingham said: ‘In games you are so used to this [racist abuse] that I didn’t know this incident with Tchouaméni had happened. It is a serious problem. We have to do more, impose punishments and do things proactively. It’s a horrible thing and it shouldn’t happen. People in power have to do more.’

‘Especially with Vini Jr. in recent years,’ continued Bellingham. ‘He gets the blame for the way he plays and it’s not fair. They will miss players like him if he doesn’t want to play in the end. More needs to be done to support these players. Nobody deserves that kind of abuse. We must appeal to the people who are in charge. We have to deal with this in games, but we have to hope that those who have to take care of you take care of you.’

‘I think it’s a horrible way for a player to have to prepare for a game knowing that they’re probably going to get racially abused. It’s disgusting. It shouldn’t happen,’ he added.