2023-05-22 20:10:40
Spanish justice opened an investigation on Monday, the day after the new insults uttered in Valencia against Vinicius, the Brazilian striker of Real Madrid, during a match in the Spanish championship (victory of Valencia 1-0). The Valencia public 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, admitted that Spanish football had “a problem of racism”, which, he added, “taints an entire team, all the supporters, a whole country”.
The Federation also called for the adoption of “more vigorous measures”, which could go as far as closing stands, or even stadiums in the event of a repeat offense, as well as referral to the State Commission against violence, xenophobia and racism in sport.
For their part, Real Madrid and AFE, the main players’ union in Spain, have announced that they have filed a complaint with the Spanish General Prosecutor’s Office – at national level – so that an investigation may be opened into these insults which legally constitute, according to the club, a “hate crime”.
In Spain, it is the “Competition Committee”, the equivalent of the Disciplinary Committee in France, which is competent in matters of discrimination in football. On a more political level, the Spanish government, through its Minister of Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzón, called for “a firm response” against this phenomenon which “shows that racism is deeply rooted among 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. Sunday at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, the merengue striker, regularly targeted, complained of having been called a “monkey” by opposing supporters.
Support for Vinicius has thus 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. “It will last as long as impunity and complicity” persist. 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 supporter who uttered racist insults on Sunday and that it was looking for others. The club also promised that they would “ban for life” identified supporters from the Mestalla stadium.
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