Pique went further than just defending Araujo; he launched a scathing attack on the culture of abuse that permeates Spanish football. The World Cup winner believes that football lags woefully behind the rest of society when it comes to basic respect and human decency.
"Sport has always been slower in all this," Pique argued, referencing the slow progress on other social issues. "I remember the era of racism, that of violence in stadiums... At the fan level, it is like in football we are always the last to adapt to the moments.
"It is time for there to be respect towards the professional, it is time that we stop being a world of 'open bar' [free-for-all] where everyone can do and insult whatever they want."
Pique spoke from a place of deep personal experience. During the height of the Catalan independence referendum and Spain's golden era, Pique was often the target of vicious abuse from his own countrymen while playing for the national team. He revealed the unhealthy coping mechanisms he was forced to develop to survive, mechanisms he implies Araujo should not have to rely on.
"I remember that I, in my time, especially for a few years with the issue of the independence process, going to the national team I lived that," Pique recalled. "You have to build an armour and it reaches a point, which is not even healthy, that you don't care what they say or what people think.
"But that is the only way to preserve your mental health and be well emotionally. Others may find it harder or do not want to adopt these measures that I took."