The Spanish justice opened an investigation on Monday, the day after the new insults made in Valencia against Vinicius, the Brazilian striker of Real Madrid, during a match of the Spanish championship (victory of Valencia 1-0). The Valencia prosecutor's office has, on its own initiative, opened investigations for an alleged "hate crime". This criminal category includes racist insults.
In front of the press, the president of the Spanish Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, acknowledged that Spanish football had "a problem of racism", which, he added, "taints a whole team, all the fans, a whole country".
The real reason why Spanish people hate Vinicius Jr. pic.twitter.com/MAdEueXobl
— Troll Football Media (@Troll__Footbal) May 22, 2023
The Federation also called for the adoption of "more vigorous measures", which could go as far as the closure of stands or even stadiums in case of recidivism, as well as the referral to the State Commission against Violence, Xenophobia and Racism in Sport.
For their part, Real Madrid and the AFE, the main players' union in Spain, announced that they had filed a complaint with the Spanish Attorney General's Office - at the national level - for an investigation into these insults which legally constitute, according to the club, a "crime of hatred".
In Spain, it is the "competitions committee", the equivalent of the disciplinary committee in France, which is responsible for discrimination in football. On a more political level, the Spanish government, through its Minister of Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzón, has called for "a firm response" against this phenomenon, which "shows that racism is deeply rooted in certain specific groups of supporters (...)".
These words and actions are in addition to the many supports received since Sunday evening by Vinicius, with the notable exception of the powerful and sulphurous boss of La Liga, Javier Tebas. On Sunday at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, the regularly targeted merengue striker complained of being called a "monkey" by opposing fans.
Support for Vinicius has poured in from all over the world. "New episode of racism in La Liga and once again Vini is the victim," lamented Ronaldo, the legend of the Seleçao. "This will last as long as impunity and complicity" continue. Outside the country, Kylian Mbappé has also taken a stand. "You're not alone. We are with you and support you," he wrote in English on Instagram.
The Valencia club, host of the incident, assured on Monday that it had already identified a fan who had uttered racist insults on Sunday and that it was looking for others. The club also promised that it would "ban for life" identified supporters from the Mestalla stadium.