Valencia announced on Monday in an official statement that it will expel from its stadium "for life" the fans who on Sunday uttered racist insults, before and during the match, towards the Brazilian Vinicius Junior in the match that was played against Real Madrid for LaLiga.
From the stands they did not stop hearing racist chants against the crack of the 'Merengue'. "Mono", was repeated from the stands after the striker crossed with the spectators and then ended up expelled in the 96th minute for a hard infringement on an opponent.
When his fury was unleashed, the 22-year-old decided to make gestures with both fingers to those who attacked him, in clear reference to Valencia's chance of losing the category and going down to the Second Division.
Before the conflict, which left aside the sport, the Valencian club explained that the Police have already identified one of the fans who made "racist gestures" to Vinicius and that "they are working in a coordinated way to confirm the identity of other possible involved".
"From the moment of the events, all available recordings are being analyzed, working with the utmost speed to clarify what happened in order to act quickly and forcefully," the letter said.
The institution has already opened a first "disciplinary file" and ensures that it will "apply the maximum severity" to subscribers who are proven to have had that racist behavior.
"The club strongly condemns this type of behavior, which has no place in football and society and does not correspond to the values of Valencia CF and its fans," the statement said.
"In this way, we reaffirm our position against racism by acting with the same forcefulness as in 2019, when a fan who made fascist gestures and salutes to Arsenal fans in the UEFA Europa League match was banned for life," the club recalls.
Vinicius' release after the match
While all his teammates came out to defend him before the press and several important figures in the world of football did so on social networks, Vinicius decided to express his discomfort at a situation that is already beginning to be common to suffer in every stadium he has to visit.
"It wasn't the first time, it wasn't the second time, it wasn't the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition believes that it is normal, the Federation also and the opponents encourage it. I am sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to the racists. A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export to the world the image of a racist country," the international player posted with his National Team.
He continued: "I feel sorry for the Spaniards who disagree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately, for everything that happens every week, I have no defense. I agree. But I am strong and I will go all the way against the racists. Even if it's far from here."
Vinicius, once again trying to defend himself from the insults received towards him. Photo: AP/Alberto Saiz.
This kind of attitude against the Brazilian is not new, but it has been accentuated in recent times. His explosion in recent seasons, which allowed him to become one of the highest performing strikers in Spanish football, brought with it the consequence of starting to suffer hard kicks from several defenders to try to stop him, as he also began to be the center of insults from rival fans.
Given the repeated occasions in which Vinicius is in the eye of the storm for racist acts against him, Real Madrid also decided to take action on the matter and filed a complaint for hate crimes against his player.
With information from EFE
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