Slot offers Vinicius support, saying football ‘must do more’ against racism

Liverpool manager Arne Slot speaks out about racism in football and says the sport must do more to prevent future incidents.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot says ‌more needs to be done to avoid racism in football following allegations by ⁠Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward ⁠Vinicius Junior that he was subjected to racist abuse from Benfica’s Argentinian winger Gianluca Prestianni.

Real’s 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win at Benfica on Tuesday was ⁠overshadowed by Vinicius accusing Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him, a charge denied by the Portuguese club, the player and their manager, Jose Mourinho.

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European football’s governing body, UEFA, ⁠said it was reviewing the incident, which led to the game being halted for 11 minutes under FIFA’s antiracism protocol.

“In general, you can never do enough, you can always do more to make sure this [racism in football] never happens again,” Slot told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League visit to ‌relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

“We have to try as a football community to do more than society does. That’s maybe not so difficult, by the way. Protocol was followed in the game; that’s the first step,” he said on Thursday.

“I would hope my players would act in a similar way – immediately address it, and the referee acts in a similar way.”

Regarding the Forest game, Slot expects a different set-up under the Midlands club’s ⁠new manager, Vitor Pereira, compared with the meeting in November when Liverpool ⁠lost 3-0 at Anfield.

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Pereira was appointed last Sunday to replace the sacked Sean Dyche.

“We only have tonight to see if this new manager changes personnel,” Slot said on Thursday, referring to Forest’s first game under Pereira ⁠at Fenerbahce in a Europa League playoff tie.

“The good thing is they have that game, and the manager was in the Premier ⁠League last season.”

The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out ⁠this weekend, but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed.

Slot said his side have improved over the past few months, with Liverpool sixth in the table on 42 points from 26 games.

“We have improved compared to ‌three, four months ago. We are in a much better place than months ago,” the 47-year-old added.

“There are more reasons, but the most simple two are how fit we are and ‌that ‌we’re much better at set-pieces at the moment.”

Forest are languishing in 17th spot, one place and three points above West Ham United in the relegation zone.