REAL MADRID FORWARD VINICIUS JR. PRAISES SEVILLA EJECTING FAN FOR RACIAL ABUSE
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. has praised Sevilla for acting quickly after the club ejected and reported a fan to authorities for racially abusing the Brazilian winger during Real Madrid’s game against Sevilla on Saturday.
Vinicius was racially abused at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium throughout most of the 1-1 draw with clear images showing a man making racist gestures towards the young player in the 86th minute of the La Liga match on Saturday after Vinicius had a confrontation with the Sevilla players.
Sevilla quickly released a statement shortly after the match saying that not only had they ejected a member of the public for “xenophobic and racist behavior” but also handed him over to the legal authorities. A statement released by the club read: “Sevilla FC would like to communicate that, after detecting xenophobic and racist behavior, a member of the public was identified, ejected from the stadium and handed over to legal authorities.”
“The individual will also be subject to the club’s vigorous internal disciplinary protocols and have their membership revoked. Sevilla FC condemns all racist and xenophobic behavior and will work closely with the authorities to ensure that action is taken accordingly. This behavior does not belong at Sevilla FC.”
Vinicius posted on social media after the game and congratulated the Seville-based team for their swift reprimand following another episode of racial slurs aimed at the Brazilian superstar. The latest racial abuse aimed at Vinicius Jr. comes just five months after the 23-year-old was targeted with racial chants and slurs by the home crowd at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia.
“Congratulations to Sevilla on the quick positioning and penalty in another sad episode for Spanish football,” wrote Vinicius Jr via Instagram. “Unfortunately, I have access to a video of another racist at this Saturday’s game, this time carried out by a child. [It is] so sad [that] there is no one to educate her. I invest a lot in education in Brazil to train citizens with different attitudes. The face of today’s racist has been published on websites as on several other occasions.”
The São Gonçalo-born winger also gave evidence earlier this month in a trial of three Valencia fans who are accused of racially abusing him during the aforementioned game in May. The three suspects, all men between the ages of 18 and 21, are facing hate crime charges and have been banned from the Mestalla Stadium by Valencia for life.
“I hope Spanish authorities do their part and change legislation for once,” Vinicius went on. “These people need to be criminally punished too. It would be a great first step to prepare for the 2030 World Cup [co-hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal]. I am here to help. Sorry to sound repetitive but it’s episode number 10. And counting…”
La Liga president Javier Tebas said in May that the league had documented and reported nine incidents of racial abuse since the start of the 2022/23 season, with eight of the nine incidents, including the one at the Mestalla, aimed at Vinicius Jr.
La Liga released a statement following another racial incident within one of its stadia on Saturday. “There is no place for racist or hateful behavior in sport,” the statement read. “La Liga vehemently condemns any racist acts and will continue working to eradicate this inexcusable behavior from our sport.”
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.