LaLiga ‘studying and analyzing the facts’ around latest Vinícius Jr. alleged racist abuse
By Patrick Sung and Sammy Mncwabe, CNN
(CNN) — Spain’s LaLiga says it is “studying and analyzing the facts” around the latest alleged racist abuse incident towards Real Madrid forward Vinícius Jr. at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium on Saturday.
This comes after a video obtained by ESPN and widely circulated online shows a child yelling “monkey” in Spanish allegedly towards the Brazilian forward, Anna Anjos – who shot the video – told ESPN after the match.
Vinícius scored twice in the 2-2 draw at Valencia.
LaLiga cannot impose punishments on clubs or fans itself. Instead, it must report incidents to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) committees or regional prosecutors who then deal with them as legal cases before sporting punishments are handed out.
But LaLiga told CNN Sport on Monday that it was “studying and analyzing the facts from a legal perspective to determine what we can/should do, as [the incident] involves a minor.”
In Spain, it is illegal to publish or upload video of a minor, under 14 years old, without parental consent, according to the country’s Protection of Personal Data law of 2018.
It is unclear how old the child in the blurred video is.
It is also unclear if a criminal investigation is underway. CNN has reached out to Valencia’s local prosecutor for comment.
Anjos told ESPN after the game that she heard fans call Vinícius a “mono” (monkey in Spanish) several times and that she felt “extremely threatened” and “powerless” in the situation.
“From the beginning of the game, since I arrived at the stadium, I heard people offend Vini … [racially insulting him] all the time,” Anjos added.
“After the game, I cried. I don’t know if you can tell from my face, but I cried a lot because I felt powerless.”
Vinícius has been subjected to racist abuse from the stands on numerous occasions during LaLiga matches over the past two seasons. He was also the target of racist abuse in Real’s league game at Valencia last season.
In late May 2023, Spanish police said seven people had been detained in relation to incidents of racist abuse directed at Vinícius. Four young men had been detained for allegedly hanging an effigy of Vinícius off a bridge in Madrid in January, while three others were arrested on suspicion of being involved in racist insults aimed at the Brazilian on May 21 of the same year.
Following the match this Saturday, Vinícius posted an image of himself on social media with a raised fist and captioned it “A luta continua,” which means “the struggle continues” in English.
CNN has reached out to RFEF, Real Madrid and Valencia for comment.
In a separate incident after the match, Peter Federico, a Real Madrid player currently on loan to Valencia, was forced to deactivate the comments on his Instagram account due to a flood of racist and abusive messages he was receiving, according to reports in Spanish media.
Federico came on in the 73rd minute and had chances to score against his parent club, before attempting to hype up the Mestalla crowd on Saturday. These actions were the focal point of much of the abuse Federico received on his Instagram.
Valencia condemned the abusive messages on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, “Valencia reiterates its dedication in the fight against discrimination in any form. The comments fomenting hate that our player Peter Federico is receiving are totally unacceptable. For a football and society free of discrimination and violence. Zero discrimination.”
LaLiga also denounced the abusive messages received by Federico in statement on X on Monday.
“In sport, there is no place for acts of hate. LaLiga condemns the discriminatory comments directed at Peter Federico and lends its support, as well as to Valencia. We keep working together to eradicate these behaviors from our football,” the Spanish league said.
The-CNN-Wire
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