Police have detained seven men over separate alleged racist incidents against Real Madrid football player Vinícius Júnior as Spain’s main football league urged changes to Spanish law that would enable it to take steps to curb racism in stadiums.
Key points:
- Four men were arrested after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No. 20 jersey of Vinícius Júnior was hung from a bridge in Madrid
- Three men were arrested in Valencia for racist conduct aimed at the winger during a match
- Brazil condemned the incidents and switched off the lights at Christ the Redeemer statue
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti expressed support for Vinícius Júnior, whom he expected would remain at the club.
He lambasted Spain’s “obsolete” protocols to deal with racism in the sport, and said he would consider taking his players off the pitch if they were to be abused again during a game.
A hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No. 20 jersey of winger Vinícius was hung from a bridge in front of the club’s training grounds.
Alongside it was a 16-metre red and white banner — the colours of rival team Atletico Madrid — that read “Madrid hates Real”.
Four men were arrested in Madrid, police said, three of whom were members of “a radical group of fans of a Madrid club”, who were previously flagged during matches as “high risk” to help curb violence during games.
Three men were also arrested in Valencia for racist conduct aimed at Vinícius in a match between Valencia and Real Madrid, police said on Twitter.
The arrests come a day after football federation chief Luis Rubiales said Spanish football has a racism problem, following a race-crime complaint lodged by Real Madrid.
After slurs were aimed at the Brazilian star during a Spanish league match on Sunday, Vinícius, in a social media post, called the racist abuse “inhuman” and asked sponsors and broadcasters to hold La Liga accountable.
Videos posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed hundreds of Valencia fans singing “Vinícius is a monkey” as the Real Madrid bus arrived at the stadium in Valencia before the match.
La Liga, which has come under pressure to do more after the Brazilian president, FIFA, and sporting stars such as France forward Kylian Mbappe, Rio Ferdinand and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton voiced support for Vinícius, said in a statement on Tuesday that it felt “impotent” to tackle the issue while Spanish legislation limited its actions to merely detecting and reporting racist incidents.
La Liga listed a number of incidents against Black players, including nine against Vinícius, which did not go to trial because of insufficient evidence and urged that the law to be modified so that it could.
“La Liga is extremely frustrated by the lack of sanctions and convictions by sporting disciplinary bodies, public administrations and courts public administrations and the jurisdictional bodies to which complaints are made,” it said in a statement.
Vinícius has expressed frustration that La Liga has not exerted pressure on the Spanish football federation, which does have the power to apply stadium closures and bans, according to sources close to the player.
The federation can cancel a match if racist insults continue after a 10-minute period in which the game is paused and the crowd warned. To date, no match in Spain has enforced it.
Brazil condemns ‘racist attacks’
Brazil condemned the “racist attacks” Vinícius has repeatedly suffered in Spain and called on the Spanish government and sports authorities to punish those involved, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called in Spain’s ambassador to explain the situation following the latest incident on Sunday.
“Taking into account the seriousness of the facts and the occurrence of yet another inadmissible episode, the Brazilian government deeply regrets that, until now, effective measures have not been taken to prevent and avoid the repetition of these acts of racism,” the statement said.
Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer landmark had its lights switched off on Monday night in a show of solidarity for the Real Madrid forward.
“The Christ the Redeemer Archdiocesan Sanctuary repudiates the racist attacks suffered by the Brazilian player Vinícius Júnior,” the body said in an Instagram post.
“The lighting of the monument will be switched off as a symbol of the collective fight against racism and in solidarity with the player and all those who suffer prejudice around the world.”
The 22-year-old Brazil international later posted a picture of the statue silhouetted against the moon on Twitter and expressed his gratitude for the support he had received.
“Black and imposing. Christ the Redeemer was like this just now. An action of solidarity that moved me. But I want, above all, to inspire and bring more light to our struggle,” he wrote.
Brazil’s deputy Foreign Minister Maria Laura da Rocha said she was amazed by the repeated racist attacks on the player.
“Vinícius Júnior received a red card for not enduring all that. The red card should have been given to racism,” she said at a seminar on Brazil’s relations to African nations.
Reuters