Vinícius Junior will be missed if racism is allowed to drive him out, says Real Madrid's Bellingham

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Jude Bellingham warned on Tuesday that soccer would miss Vinícius Junior if the Real Madrid star was driven out of the sport by racism.

Brazil winger Vinícius has repeatedly been the target of racial abuse from opposition fans and last month said he was losing his desire to carry on playing.

Bellingham said he doubted whether soccer's authorities would be able to stamp out racism in the sport after a Mallorca supporter was caught on camera over the weekend making monkey gestures following a goal from Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouaméni.

“The people in power need to do more, especially with Vini in the recent weeks — well, years actually,” Bellingham said ahead of Madrid’s Champions League quarterfinals second-leg match against Manchester City. "I think the blame gets shifted more onto him because of maybe his playing style and the way he likes to express himself and I don’t think that’s fair.

“The game would miss players like Vini if he decided to take a break because of this thing. More needs to be done to support these players.”

Vinícius broke down in tears when speaking last month about the abuse he's been subjected to.

In January last year, an effigy of Vinícius was hung from an overpass near Madrid’s training ground in the Spanish capital. Later that season, he was in tears during a match after confronting a fan who had made monkey gestures toward him.

Bellingham, an England international who joined Madrid from Borussia Dortmund last summer, said such incidents are so common in Spain that he wasn't even aware of the latest incident following Tchouaméni's goal.

“In the games where we go away, in La Liga especially, you almost get so used to it," he said. "That’s a massive problem in itself. More has got to be done, whether it’s the punishment and how you react to it or how you move proactively to this kind of thing. It’s a horrible way for a player to prepare for a game knowing that they’re probably going to get racially abused. It’s disgusting. It shouldn’t happen.

“It’s definitely a call-out for the people who are in charge to take control. I doubt that will happen. It’s going to be something that I imagine we will still have to just deal with going into games. I think that’s one of those things where you have just got to play your game and hope that the people look after you — and they’re not doing it well enough at the moment.”

Madrid and City go into the second leg at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday with the score tied at 3-3.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham, left, is challenged by Manchester City's Rodrigo during the Champions League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham attends a press conference at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Tuesday April 16, 2024 ahead of Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal soccer match against Manchester City. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal from a CBD hemp oil maker fighting a lawsuit from a truck driver who says he got fired after using a product falsely advertised as being free from marijuana's active ingredient.

Douglas Horn says he took the product to help with chronic shoulder and back pain he had after a serious accident. The company said it contained CBD, a generally legal compound that is widely sold as a dietary supplement and included in personal-care products, but not THC, which gives marijuana its high, Horn said in court documents.

After a failed routine drug test got him fired, Horn says he confirmed with a lab that the product did have THC. He sued the Vista, California, company under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, among other claims, alleging the THC-free marketing amounted to fraud.

The law known as RICO was crafted as a tool to prosecute organized crime, but people can also file civil suits under it against alleged schemes and collect triple the damages if they win. An appeals court found Horn’s claim should be allowed to go forward.

Medical Marijuana, Inc. appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. The company disputes Horn's claims and argues that he can't sue under RICO because he's claiming a personal injury. Other appeals courts have dismissed RICO suits in similar circumstances, the company said, making this case a good one to decide on a nationwide rule.

Horn, for his part, says his firing was a business injury and he's been financially ruined.

The case will be heard in the fall.

FILE - The sun flares in the camera lens as it rises behind the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, June 25, 2017. The Supreme Court will hear an appeal from a Vista, Calif., CBD hemp oil company fighting a lawsuit from a truck driver who says he got fired after using a product falsely advertised as being free from the active ingredient in marijuana.(AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)