Valencia And Police Identidy Fan Who Racially Abused Vinicius Junior
A Valencia fan who racially abused Vinicius Jr has been identified by police and faces a lifetime stadium ban.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius was on Sunday again the subject of racial slurs during a LaLiga game and alerted the referee to an individual in the stands who was targetting him during the game, prompting the match to be paused for over 10 minutes.
In a statement after the game, Vinicius said the league “belonged to racists” and talked of Spain’s reputation as “a country of racists”.
In response, Real Madrid lodged a hate crime complaint with prosecutors and the head of the Spanish FA has supported Vinicius, insisting Spain has a racism problem.
Valencia have now “strongly condemned” the accused unnamed fan, who now faces “the maximum level of severity” in punishment, having been indentified by police. The investigation will continue to identify any further offenders.
A statement read: “Valencia CF have proceeded to open a disciplinary case, will apply the maximum level of severity, including a lifetime stadium ban against the fans involved, and is working closely together with the authorities.
“The club strongly condemn this type of behaviour, which has no place in football and society and does not correspond to the values of Valencia CF and our fans.
“Valencia CF have taken a strong stance against racism and have previously acted with the same forcefulness in 2019, with a lifetime ban for a fan who made fascist gestures to Arsenal fans in a UEFA Europa League game.”
