Daily Times

PARIS: Real Madrid’s Brazil forward Vinicius Jr has called LaLiga and Spain racist after receiving racial slurs from the stands in Sunday’s defeat at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium. Vinicius Jr pointed out the fans who were insulting him, leading to the match being stopped for 10 minutes, and then got into an altercation with Valencia’s players which led to his sending off in the second half. “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition considers it normal, the federation considers it normal and the rivals encourage it,” Vinicius posted on Twitter after the game. “The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Lionel) Messi today belongs to the racists.

“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which accepted to export to the world the image of a racist country. I am sorry for those Spaniards who disagree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. “I am strong and I will go all the way against the racists. Even if it is far away from here,” he added. LaLiga will request all available images in order to investigate what took place in light of the incident. “If any hate crime is identified, we will take the appropriate legal action,” it said in a statement. LaLiga president Javier Tebas responded to Vinicius Jr’s comments by asking him to be more informed about what can be done in cases of racism. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his support for the player and called on soccer’s world governing body FIFA to stop racism in football. Real manager Carlo Ancelotti also spoke out against the incident on social media.

The Brazilian Ministry of Racial Affairs said on Twitter: “The Brazilian government will not tolerate racism either here or outside Brazil,” adding that it will notify the Spanish authorities and LaLiga about what happened to Vinicius. The Spanish league has previously lodged complaints of racist chanting or insults against Vinicius Jr, the latest of which was a claim before a court in Mallorca after fans were filmed racially abusing the forward. Spanish police are also investigating a possible hate crime against Vinicius Jr after a mannequin wearing his number 20 shirt was hung from a bridge outside Real Madrid’s training ground in January.