Brazil on Monday condemned racism against Real Madrid star forward Vinicius Junior during a Spanish La Liga match on the weekend and asked the Spanish authorities to take action.
“The Brazilian government repudiates, in the strongest terms, the racist attacks that Brazilian athlete Vinicius Junior has repeatedly suffered in Spain,” read a joint statement of Brazilian government institutions, including foreign and sports ministries.
It said that in Spain “effective measures have not been taken to prevent and avoid the repetition of these acts of racism,” and Spain should “take necessary steps” to punish the suspects and prevent these acts.
The Brazilian government also called on FIFA, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and La Liga to “apply the appropriate measures.”
Spanish prosecutors have launched an investigation into racist chants directed at Vinicius.
In a statement, Real Madrid previously condemned the racist act against the Brazilian forward.
Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti also slammed the racist act against the 22-year-old player, calling it “unacceptable.”
“Vinicius is the victim,” the Italian coach told a press conference after the match.
The Real Madrid regular was racially abused by Valencia fans at Mestalla Stadium on Sunday.
“The whole stadium was shouting ‘monkey, monkey, monkey’,” Ancelotti said. “There is not much to say. I am very sad … You can’t play football like that.”
Real Madrid lost to Valencia 1-0 in a Spanish La Liga week 35 match to be third in the standings with 71 points, while Valencia are in the 13th place with 40 points.
After a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, Vinicius was sent off near the end of the match for hitting Valencia forward Hugo Duro.
Vinicius slams Spanish league
“Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the federation does too and the opponents encourage it,” Vinicius, a Real Madrid forward since 2018, said on Twitter.
“It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third,” he wrote.
Clubs, players post solidarity messages
“This can’t keep happening. We are always with you, Vini!” his former club Flamengo from Brazil said on Twitter.
In addition to Flamengo, the Turkish club Galatasaray, Vinicius’ teammate from the Brazilian national team, Casemiro, who plays for Manchester United, and Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho posted messages of support for the Real Madrid star.
Casemiro and Vinicius were teammates at Real Madrid.
Valencia opens disciplinary case
Meanwhile, Valencia also “strongly condemned” the racist act against Vinicius and pledged action against the suspects at Mestalla.
“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 Spanish club said.
Vinicius, who generally plays on the left flank, scored 23 goals and made 21 assists in 54 appearances for Real Madrid this season.
He has 21 international caps for Brazil.