Newcastle United star Joelinton has revealed he received racist abuse on social media following the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in April. The Magpies played host to Mikel Arteta's title-chasing side in a fiery game at St James' Park at the business end of the season, as the Brazilian battled it out against the likes of Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard in the middle of the park.
Joelinton was portrayed as a villain during the reverse fixture back in January as Newcastle battled their way to an ugly 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium. The second time around it was Arsenal who angered the crowd as they ran the clock down on Tyneside.
Joelinton is currently on international duty with Brazil as the south American outfit prepare for clashes with Guinea and Senegal. He was pressed on the matter of racism after recent abuse aimed at international team-mate Vinicius Jr.
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“It’s an important moment to speak about racism,” Joelinton said at Monday's press conference. “We have been talking about it for a long time, still many things need to be changed. We talk about a combat against racism... but we didn’t have much of a change.
“This (racism) is not something happening now, but for a long time. And in the 21st Century, we still see things like that. It’s hard to accept and believe we are evolving when things like that still happen.”
When asked if he had ever experienced racism on the pitch he said: “Not on the pitch, no. But after the match against Arsenal, playing at home, I have received some messages with racist insults. But... it’s gone. It didn’t affect me.”
Newcastle United responded to the interview by tweeting: "There is no room for racism. Anywhere. We're with you, Joe." Newcastle fan group Wor Flags responded by sharing a photo of one of their displays from earlier this season which read: "Show racism the red card."
Joelinton has excelled in recent months to become a fan favourite on Tyneside and many of the Geordie faithful will tune in to see if the 26-year-old earns his debut call-up this weekend.
"I wanted to go to the beach and my wife told me to wait. I thought: if I get the news, I'll be there. If I don't receive it, I'll be sad, but at least I'll enjoy the beach," Joelinton said upon receiving his first ever national call-up. "When he said my name, I just cried. It's a feeling of pride, of seeing that the effort is being seen."
