La Liga will again investigate after Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was subject to racist abuse during their 1-0 loss at Real Mallorca on Sunday, The Athletic understands.
Mallorca fans were filmed racially abusing Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr. in their Son Moix stadium during their 1-0 upset win against the LaLiga holders on Sunday.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Supporters could be heard calling the 22-year-old Brazilian player a monkey in a video published by streaming company DAZN on social media.
Vinijr foi alvo de racismo mais uma vez em #LaLiga, um torcedor do Mallorca gritou "Vinícius mono, eres um puto mono". Veja vídeo da DAZN_ES, além disso, no jogo o Vinícius sofreu 10 das 29 faltas sofridas pelo Real Madrid. pic.twitter.com/SZ7X3pbSIC
— C.F. Real Madrid BR (@sportfutube) February 6, 2023
Mallorca did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a radio interview club manager Javier Aguirre denied that his players had targeted Vinicius in the ill-tempered match, in which the Brazilian suffered 10 fouls, the most endured by any player in LaLiga this season.
A La Liga statement on Monday read: “In view of the events that occurred in the RCD Mallorca—Real Madrid match, in which once again intolerable racist insults were observed against the Madrid player Vinicius Jr, LaLiga is putting all the technical means at its disposal and working with the local club for the identification of those responsible, with the aim of taking the appropriate legal measures.
“In addition, to speed up this identification, LaLiga has enabled the email StopRacismo@laliga.es so that fans who may have images or any indication of the identity of those responsible can contact LaLiga and provide the necessary identification to file the appropriate complaints.”
Mallorca were aware of the possibility of Vinicius Jr suffering abuse ahead of the visit of Real. Chief executive Alfonso Diaz had asked fans to “show respect” last week, a message that was ultimately ineffective.
Following the incident against Valladolid, La Liga said in January that it had filed charges against individuals at Valladolid Magistrates’ Courts and vowed to “increase efforts to eradicate racsim”.
Vinicius Jr Racist abuse
Vinicius has been subjected to racial abuse by fans on at least three occasions – at Camp Nou against Barcelona in November 2021, at Atletico in September 2022 and at Valladolid in late December 2022.
Spanish police are also investigating a possible hate crime against the Brazilian after a mannequin wearing his No. 20 shirt was hung from a bridge in front of the club’s training centre ahead of the Madrid derby two weeks ago.
The mannequin was hung next to a banner in Atletico Madrid’s red and white colours that read “Madrid hates Real” during the early hours of Jan. 26, police said.
Prosecutors in Madrid decided not press charges over racist chanting aimed at Vinicius in September after finding it had “lasted a few seconds” and had not constituted a crime.
In December, Vinicius accused LaLiga of continuing to do nothing about racist fans at matches, after videos on social media showed some shouting abuse and throwing objects at him during a match the previous day at Valladolid.
Pele, Neymar and other leading Brazilian figures leapt to the defence of Vinicius in September after a panelist on a Spanish soccer show criticised the forward.
Having suffered 79 fouls so far this season, Vinicius is the most fouled player in Europe’s top seven leagues by a big margin, followed by his countryman Neymar at PSG with 59 fouls.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and Vinicius’s team mates have been urging LaLiga and authorities to take action to protect the Brazilian from what they are calling “a hunt” by rivals’ defenders
