Based on my impressions from yesterday's MotoGP Gala awards and what I've managed to read online today, I really want to speak out on the topic of Rossi being booed at the ceremony.
First, I want to say that I heard perfectly well how Marc twice called for respect for everyone. And I want to make it clear that I have no intention of questioning his words or contradicting them. But I want to say that Marc and we, the fans, are on different sides of assessing this situation.
He is at the center of this endless story with Rossi. He sees and feels it differently. His anger might have been so intense that it has long since burned out, and he genuinely doesn't care about what continues to drag on to this day. And he is not the same kind of person as Rossi; if any anger remained, he would never call his fans to hatred. Simply because that's who he is. Perhaps from his own experience, he truly cannot accept any booing, even towards Rossi.
But.
Marc's words were about "us all competing together here", about respecting each other. And it is here Rossi steps outside that circle. Because the negativity directed at him is not about racing.
There is a perfect way to see the difference in situations: Marco Bezzecchi. He caused us immense pain, and I was so angry with him for so long, with echoes of that feeling remaining even now. I even thought he wouldn't be particularly welcomed on Marc's home turf, but no. People, and I include myself, understand that even if Marco's mistake was stupid, it was still a mistake. He apologized to Marc personally. His communication with Marc throughout the season got better and better. And in the end, he was welcomed at the ceremony like everyone else.
But Rossi… Rossi is a man whose dirt has nothing to do with racing anymore. He is simply a person who does not deserve respect.
And it surprises me so much—the people who either defend him or just call for not booing him for what… for what? For being a legend? And is that some kind of shield or something? These same defenders often advocate for "cancel culture". When some star, in the present or the past, does something bad, society deems it unacceptable and the star's career faces problems. But Rossi, is he above these rules?
The fact that he continues to say bad things about Marc has become routine and is perceived as a joke. Although, one would think, what's so funny about it? But the way he twice, standing by the track, celebrated Marc's crashes—one of them, ironically, in Spain—how can anyone turn a blind eye to that? In a sport like this, where anything can happen. The way Marc himself got injured. The horror that happened to Noa and Rueda. Where anything can occur. A legend demonstrates behavior that is characteristic only of the worst fans. And he sets an example by doing so. Adults and children in the grandstands in Italy adopt this, thinking it's okay to jump up and celebrate crashes. Rossi could, with one interview, significantly reduce this toxicity in Italy, but he doesn't. He only fuels it with his behavior.
Doesn't he deserve this treatment for that? He does. He does. A thousand times, yes. This is not about racing. This is about his character. He has earned for his legacy to be tarnished for all he has done in recent years. And that is nothing other than justice
