The Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior has accused La Liga of “doing nothing” about racist abuse from the stands at matches, after he was targeted by Real Valladolid fans on Friday.
Vinícius posted a statement online after videos on social media showed fans shouting abuse and throwing objects at him during Real Madrid’s 2-0 away win. The Brazilian forward appeared to be subjected to abuse at the José Zorrilla Stadium after being substituted.
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“Racists continue to go to stadiums and watch the biggest club in the world up close and La Liga continues to do nothing,” Vinícius wrote on Twitter. “I will continue with my head held high and celebrating my victories and those of Madrid.”
La Liga issued a statement condemning all forms of hate speech and saying it was following up on instances of racism at the match. The president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, responded to Vinícius with a strongly-worded tweet labelling his accusations as “unfair and untrue”.
“At La Liga, I’ve been fighting racism for years,” Tebas wrote. “@vinijr it is unfair and untrue to publish that ‘@laliga does nothing about racism’. We are at your disposal so that together, we can walk in the same direction.” Tebas also posted a link to the official statement, which included examples of previous action taken by the league.
“La Liga has detected racist insults from someone [in] the stands of the Zorrilla stadium, published on social networks,” the statement read. “These events will be reported to the Anti-Violence Commission and the Hate Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, as has been done on other occasions.”
Of the six previous cases of alleged racial abuse mentioned in the statement, three involved chants directed at Vinícius. The first occurred at the Camp Nou as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in October 2021, the second at Real Mallorca in March 2022.
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The third instance came in September, when Atlético Madrid fans were filmed directing racist chants at the 22-year-old before and during the team’s home game against Real Madrid.
