Vinicius Junior

Spain, Sept 18 (PL) The president of the Spanish LaLiga, Javier Tebas, said today that Real Madrid's Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior could win this year's top individual award in world soccer.

"He can be the next Ballon d'Or," he said about the South American, one of the great candidates to lift the trophy along with his English teammate Jude Bellingham and the Spaniard Rodrigo Hernandez, of Manchester City.

Regarding the controversy generated by the racist attacks suffered by the Auriverde player, Tebas said that neither 'Spain nor Spanish soccer are racist', and thanked the brave attitude of the player to attack the problem.

"Since what happened with Vinicius there has been a catharsis. Spain is not racist, there is collaboration of the fans with those who insult. Since that day there has been much more social awareness," he said.

Speaking at the Palacio de Congresos in Seville, Tebas added that Madrid's other big star, Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, is 'a big impact for La Liga', but highlighted Spain's triumph at the last European Championship.

"There was a positive impact on what the Spanish national team did at the European Championship, in which the best players were Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, two players who play in the Spanish League," he said.

Finally, he joined the claim of soccer players for the overload of matches and criticized the increase in piracy, which affects audiovisual revenues.