The young man Rodrigo Sanz, son of Lorenzo Sanz Jr and grandson of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz, shared a video with the media in the Asian country apologizing for racist song he sang during Champions League final and which went viral, sparking a heated debate about “racial discrimination” that reached over 60 million impressions.
The young Real Madrid fan, visibly affected, acknowledges that His action does not live up to the “values that sport represents” and assures that “I never intended to denigrate the Chinese community, much less its women.” He also refers to the gesture that the Olympic athlete, winner of badminton, had towards our player Carolina Marín during the Olympic Games, assuring that “the respect and sporting value shown by the Chinese player towards the best Spanish player in the world is worthy of admiration.”
The Madrid fan, whose father is Lorenzo Sanz Jr, a former Real Madrid basketball player and now a commentator on Real Madrid television, had not spoken out until this Wednesday, after singing the controversial song that confronted the Chinese community with the Madrid club. This video reached the Chinese media a few days before the official visit of the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, to the Asian giant.
The conflict originated outside Wembley after the Champions League final on June 1. Kevin, a young Chinese man, was broadcasting the Champions League post-match on his social networks when Rodrigo Sanz, accompanied by his cousin and another friend, began chanting racist and sexist words in front of the camera. The journalist, who does not know Spanish, spoke in English with Lorenzo Sanz’s grandson, who responded with a mockery in the form of a song. “A little Chinese girl was shaking me on your sister’s bed,” he sang, dressed in a Spanish flag and a Madrid shirt, while his two companions danced alongside him.
“What does that mean?” the interviewer asked. Wrapping his arm around the reporter’s neck, the fan repeated the song, even encouraging the interviewer to sing it. The incident has become a real scandal for the Chinese community, particularly on the Baidu search engine and the Weibo platform. reaching stratospheric views. The Chinese embassy also got involved, issuing a statement to Real Madrid and expressing its “shock and anger” at a song that was “insulting to China, vulgar and of a bad nature.” Madrid also condemned “all forms of racism and xenophobia,” in addition to showing its “appreciation and respect” for Chinese fans.
The words of Rodrigo Sanz
“Hello everyone, my name is Rodrigo Sanz and I am recording this video because I want to make it clear that I have nothing against the Chinese people and I would like to apologize for what happened on June 1st during the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium. We saw in these Olympic Games the emotional gesture of the Chinese silver medalist badminton player, He Bingjiao, towards our Olympian Carolina Marín. The respect and sporting value shown by the Chinese player towards the best Spanish player in the world is worthy of admiration. It makes me reflect on my act of June 1st, which does not live up to the values that sport in general and football in particular represents. I want you to understand that it was never my intention to denigrate the Chinese community, much less its women. In the future, we would like to visit China to learn more about a country that strongly supports sport and its values. Thank you very much.”
