La Liga president Javier Tebas has publicly criticised Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior for accusing the Spanish top flight of doing “nothing” to combat racism.
Vinicius was subjected to racist abuse during Los Blancos’ 2-0 win over Real Valladolid on Friday. Footage posted on social media showed the winger reacting angrily as taunts and objects rained down from the home fans after he was substituted.
It is the fourth time that the 22-year-old Brazil international has been targeted by racists in the past 15 months, following incidents in matches against Barcelona, Real Mallorca and Atletico Madrid. While La Liga has noted the incidents and filed complaints to the prosecutor's office, none of the previous three incidents have resulted in a prosecution.
On Saturday, Vinicius tweeted: “Racists continue to go to stadiums and watch the biggest club in the world up close and @LaLiga continues to do nothing... I will continue with my head held high and celebrating my victories and those of Madrid. In the end it's MY fault.”
In response, La Liga president Tebas tweeted: “At LaLiga we have been fighting RACISM for years. Vinicius is very unfortunate, unfair and it is not true to publish that ‘LaLiga does nothing against racism’, find out more. We are at your disposal so that ALL TOGETHER, we can go in the same direction.” The LaLiga president has since retweeted his statement twice.
He also shared a statement from the league on the Real Valladolid incident, which said: "LaLiga has detected racist insults from the stands of the Zorrilla stadium, published on social networks. These facts will be reported to the Anti-Violence Commission and the Public Prosecutor's Office for hate crimes, as has been done on other occasions."
The statement then listed six instances of racism against players in La Liga games over the past two years, three of which involved Vinicius, and the actions the governing body has taken. Despite the first of the incidents taking place in January 2020, none have got past preliminary proceedings, meaning no perpetrator has been prosecuted.
One incident, in which Athletic Bilbao player Nico Williams was abused during a match against Real Betis in March, is particularly alarming. The statement says the incident was referred to the Seville Hate Prosecutor's Office, but no charges were brought because it was “clear that he is not a person who intends to incite racism”. The prosecutors ruled that “despite their incorrectness, they do not exceed the line of criminal offence”.
A similar decision was taken by the Madrid prosecutor after Vinicius was abused by Atletico Madrid fans last year. They acknowledged that such actions were "unpleasant and disrespectful" but added that "they only lasted a few seconds" and were "in the context of football rivalry".
Despite these apparent failures, La Liga’s statement concluded: “LaLiga will continue to lead the fight against the scourge that is violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport, not only with words but also with deeds, as demonstrated by the actions that have been exposed.”
