German musician and songwriter used his Instagram to repudiate recent acts of hate against Brazilian football player Vini Jr
By Luiz Athayde
The German musician, songwriter and vocalist Tobias Sammet used his social networks, specifically Instagram, not to talk about Avantasia or Edguy. But about the recent racist attacks suffered by Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid player, from Valencia fans.
During a match at the Mestalla stadium in Spain, the rival fans constantly shouted “mono” (monkey) at Vini Jr. After showing the referee where the insults were coming from, the referee stopped the game.
“Something different and way more important than music or football: When will this beautiful world be mature and strong enough to put an end to the ugly excesses of racism?” Wrote Sammet, who continues to question: “This is the 21st century, let’s all stand up against it. Vini Jr. is an amazing player, no matter which jersey he wears. It’s ridiculous having to mention it: why the heck do ppl think that skin, sexual preference or religion matter at all?”
“It’s beyond comprehension, and anyone who thinks differently must be ridiculously uneducated or plain scum!”
As is expected in the virtual environment, the discussion went on heated, yet respectful, and Sammet concludes by responding, “To a certain extend those 90 minutes make every fan’s emotions a mess and many of us have yelled weird stuff, but there should be a red line, just like most of us remember we shouldn’t physically attack each others. We should adjust that compass and show our anger within a certain frame of reasonableness.”
Tobias Sammet is an avid Bayern Munich fan. In fact, a few hours before he took the stage with Avantasia at Summer Breeze Brazil, the singer was celebrating (via Twitter) his favorite team’s 2-0 victory against Hertha Berlin.