Spanish Police Arrests 7 After Racism Incidents Against Vinicius Jr.
Spanish Police detained seven men on Tuesday over separate alleged hate crime incidents against Real Madrid football player Vinicius Jr as LaLiga urged changes to Spanish law that would enable it to take steps to curb racism in stadiums.
A hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable figure dressed in the No. 20 jersey of winger Vinicius Jr was hung from a bridge in front of the club’s training grounds. Alongside it was a 16m (17.5-yard) 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 Vinicius Jr in Sunday’s match, police said on Twitter.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti expressed support for Vinicius Jr, 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 abused again during a game as Vinicius Jr was in Sunday’s LaLiga match at Valencia
Vinicius Jr, in a social media post, called the racist abuse “inhuman” and asked sponsors and broadcasters to hold LaLiga accountable.
Valencia’s south stand will be partially closed for five matches and the club fined 45,000 euros ($49,536), the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Tuesday.
However, LaLiga said in an earlier statement that it felt “impotent” to tackle the issue while Spanish legislation limited its actions to merely detecting and reporting racist incidents.
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