MADRID: Vin铆cius J煤nior was subjected to racist abuse yet again on Sunday with the Brazil star saying the Spanish league 鈥渘ow belongs to racists.鈥�
The latest abuse against Vin铆cius came in Real Madrid鈥檚 1-0 loss at Valencia, a match that had to be temporarily stopped after the Brazil forward said he was insulted by a fan behind one of the goals at Mestalla Stadium.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 the first time, or the second or the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition thinks it鈥檚 normal, as does the federation, and the opponents encourage it,鈥� Vin铆cius said on Instagram and Twitter. 鈥淭he league that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Lionel) Messi now belongs to racists ... But I鈥檓 strong and I will fight until the end against the racists. Even if far from here.鈥�
The 22-year-old Vin铆cius, who is Black, has been subjected to racist abuse since moving to Spain five years ago.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti considered replacing the star forward after Vin铆cius said fans at Mestalla chanted 鈥渕onkey鈥� toward him. He said Vin铆cius initially didn鈥檛 want to continue playing.
鈥淲hat happened today shouldn鈥檛 happen,鈥� Ancelotti said. 鈥淲hen a stadium yells 鈥榤onkey鈥� to a player, and the coach considers taking him out of the field because of that, it means that there is something bad in this league.鈥�
The veteran coach refused to talk about the game after what happened, saying his team鈥檚 loss meant nothing.
鈥淭he game should have been stopped,鈥� Ancelotti said. 鈥淭his shouldn鈥檛 happen. It wasn鈥檛 only one person, as it has happened in several stadiums. Here, it was a stadium racially insulting a player, the game had to stop. I would have said the same thing if it was 3-0 for us. You have to stop the game, there was no way around it.鈥�
Ancelotti said he asked the referee to stop the match, but was told that the protocol was to first make an announcement to fans, then take other action if the problem continued.
Ancelotti said Vin铆cius didn鈥檛 want to keep playing but he told the player that he wasn鈥檛 guilty of anything and that he was the victim. Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he would have left the field with Vinicius if his teammate had decided to stop playing.
鈥淰in铆cius is upset, obviously, but more than upset, he is sad,鈥� Ancelotti said.
According to Spanish media reports, Valencia has identified two fans who allegedly insulted Vin铆cius behind one of the goals.
Some comments on social media claimed fans were saying the Spanish word 鈥渢onto鈥� (silly) instead of 鈥渕ono鈥� (monkey).
Valencia later said it expected Ancelotti to apologize to Valencia fans for accusing them of racism after misunderstanding what was said. The coach told a news conference that the referee wouldn鈥檛 have started the racism protocol if he didn鈥檛 think there was racism in the stadium.
Vin铆cius was later sent off after an altercation with Valencia players, and gestured to home fans about their team鈥檚 fight against relegation as he left the field. Valencia took a huge step toward avoiding the drop with the 1-0 victory opening a five-point gap to the bottom three teams entering the final three rounds.
鈥淭he reward for the racists was my ejection!鈥� Vin铆cius said on Instagram, along with the Spanish league鈥檚 slogan 鈥淚t鈥檚 not soccer, it鈥檚 LaLiga.鈥�
Vin铆cius had called the referee around the 70th minute and started pointing to a person sitting among the Valencia supporters. The player went near the stands and confronted the fans while players from both teams tried to restore calm.
Police eventually arrived in the stands to deal with the supporters. An announcement was made asking fans to behave.
The match at Mestalla was stopped for about seven minutes, and not long after it resumed Vin铆cius clashed with Valencia players and was sent off for pushing one of his opponents away with a hand to his face.
After the decision of his ejection was made following a video review, Vin铆cius started applauding ironically. As he was leaving the field, he made a 鈥済oing down鈥� gesture over relegation. That upset players on the Valencia bench and some charged toward Vin铆cius as he left the field, causing the game to be temporarily stopped again.
Valencia coach Rub茅n Baraja condemned the behavior of Valencia fans but also criticized Vin铆cius, saying he should have respected the club and its supporters.
Vin铆cius鈥� teammate Dani Ceballos criticized the fans but said he also expected Vin铆cius to apologize for his gestures after being sent off.
Ancelotti said Vin铆cius鈥� reaction was normal considering what he had gone through moments earlier.
The Spanish league said it has requested images from the game to investigate what happened. It will also probe possible insults against Vin铆cius outside Mestalla, when a large group of fans also allegedly called the player a monkey as the Madrid bus arrived.
League president Javier Tebas criticized Vin铆cius for attacking the league without fully understanding what it has done recently to combat racism, and saying the player didn鈥檛 show up for talks on the subject that he had requested himself.
The league has made nine formal complaints over racist abuse against Vin铆cius over the last two seasons, with many of the cases being shelved. A Mallorca fan may end up going on trial after allegedly racially insulting the Brazilian during a game.
The first trial against a fan accused of racial abuse in Spanish professional soccer is expected to happen at some point this year in a case involving Athletic Bilbao forward I帽aki Williams, who was insulted by an Espanyol supporter in a match in 2020.