Sports
REAL Madrid have filed a complaint with the Spanish legal authorities after their striker Vinicius Jr suffered “racist and hateful insults” this week.
A video on social media appears to show Atletico Madrid fans chanting a racist slur before their Champions League game with Inter Milan.
Real allege there were similar chants from Barcelona fans before their encounter against Napoli on Tuesday.
Spain’s La Liga said they will also report the incident.
A statement from Real Madrid said: “Real Madrid has filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office against hate crimes and discrimination, for the racist and hateful insults directed towards our player Vinicius Jr in the vicinity of the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic and the Metropolitan Stadium of Madrid.
“Real Madrid condemns these violent attacks of racism, discrimination and hatred that have been taking place, unfortunately repeatedly, against our player Vinicius Jr.
“Our club will continue to work in defence of the values of football and sport, and will remain firm in its fight for zero tolerance in the face of such disgusting episodes as those that continue to occur in recent times.”
Los Blancos say they have also requested security footage to be assessed to identify the perpetrators.
Vinicius had responded to the video on X, saying: “I hope you have already thought about their punishment Uefa.
“It’s a sad reality that [it] even happens in games where I’m not present!”
Vinicius, 23, has suffered racial abuse on several occasions across Spain in the last three years.
After Real’s derby win away over Atletico in September 2022, Atletico condemned “unacceptable” chants by a “minority” of fans towards Vinicius outside their stadium before the game.
Last June, four men were fined 60,001 euros (£51,700) and given a two-year stadium ban for hanging an effigy of Vinicius near Real’s training ground in January 2023.
On the same day, three other people were fined 5,000 euros (£4,300) and banned for one year for making racist gestures during Real’s game at Valencia last May.
This season there were reports of more racist abuse towards Vinicius as Real played at Sevilla in October, at Barcelona the following week and at Valencia earlier this month.
BBC
16th March, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Real Madrid Vinicius Jr
