in a La Liga game
Real Madrid have reported the latest incident of racist abuse towards their forward Vinicius Jr to the Spanish prosecutor’s office as a hate crime. Following the match, in which the 22-year-old Brazil international was sent off for violent conduct, he said “La Liga belongs to racists”. Real Madrid issued a statement condemning the events and showing their “strongest revulsion” for the attack. Spanish prosecutors will now decide whether to pursue a criminal investigation.
Vinicius has been the target of racist abuse multiple times this season. La Liga said they would investigate and take “appropriate legal action” if a hate crime was identified, calling on people to submit any relevant footage. Valencia said police had “identified a fan who made racist gestures” and that the club were also working with the police to confirm the identity of any other potential offenders. The club added that they would apply the maximum level of severity, including a lifetime stadium ban against the fans involved.
Vinicius then exchanged messages with La Liga president Javier Tebas on Twitter, with Tebas saying Vinicius twice did not turn up for a meeting to discuss what it “can do in cases of racism”. Vinicius criticised the post for targeting him instead of the “racists”, saying he wanted La Liga to take “actions and punishments”. Tebas then replied: “Neither Spain nor La Liga are racist, it is very unfair to say that.”
Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has invited his Brazilian counterpart Ednaldo Rodrigues to visit the RFEF and asked him “to ignore the irresponsible behaviour of the president of La Liga”. Rubiales said “we have a serious, behavioural problem; of education, of racism” which requires “a firm response from the federation”. He added: “The goal we have set for ourselves is that as soon as possible those who have suffered [racist abuse] at some point can say that it is not a problem in Spain.”
Piara Powar, executive director of European football anti-discriminatory body ‘Fare’, told the BBC they had recorded 11 instances of racism inside stadiums this season and that Spanish football “is in crisis right now”. He added: “La Liga’s statement from Tebas is the sort of discourse that we’ve been seeing throughout Spanish media, where people are blaming the victim, the player himself. It’s difficult to fathom.” He said there was a lack of responsibility and lack of a single organisation coming forward and saying ‘we will take responsibility for this and see action through until we begin to see some change’.
Real Madrid have reported the latest incident of racist abuse towards their forward Vinicius Jr to the Spanish prosecutor’s office as a hate crime. The club showed their “strongest revulsion” for the attack and Spanish prosecutors will now decide whether to pursue a criminal investigation. La Liga said they would investigate and take “appropriate legal action” if a hate crime was identified. Valencia said police had “identified a fan who made racist gestures” and that the club were also working with the police to confirm the identity of any other potential offenders.
Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has invited his Brazilian counterpart Ednaldo Rodrigues to visit the RFEF and asked him “to ignore the irresponsible behaviour of the president of La Liga”. Rubiales said “we have a serious, behavioural problem; of education, of racism” which requires “a firm response from the federation”. Piara Powar, executive director of European football anti-discriminatory body ‘Fare’, said there was a lack of responsibility and lack of a single organisation coming forward and saying ‘we will take responsibility for this and see action through until we begin to see some change’.
Vinicius has been the target of racist abuse multiple times this season, including at Atletico Madrid, Valladolid, Atletico Madrid again, Barcelona and Valencia. La Liga president Javier Tebas then exchanged messages with Vinicius on Twitter, with Tebas saying Vinicius twice did not turn up for a meeting to discuss what it “can do in cases of racism”. Vinicius criticised the post for targeting him instead of the “racists”, saying he wanted La Liga to take “actions and punishments”.