Spain arrests 7 people over Vinicius Jnr racism incidents, Real Madrid star spared ban for red card at Valencia
- Spanish football authorities shut stand at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium for 5 games amid racism scandal
- Police arrest three youths in Valencia for ‘insults and gestures with racist overtones’ towards Brazilian that amounted to ‘an alleged hate crime’
Spanish police arrested seven people on Tuesday over the racial abuse of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, as the Brazilian star was spared a ban for his red card against Valencia.
The forward was targeted by Valencia fans on Sunday, sparking an international outcry, and the Spanish club had one stand of their stadium shut for five games by the Spanish football authorities late on Tuesday.
Spain’s football league, La Liga, has been engulfed in a racism scandal after the 22-year-old was subjected to racist taunts during Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at Valencia and later sent off.
The player has been taunted by opposition fans since joining Real in 2018 but the latest incident has kicked up a storm over whether Spain is doing enough to stamp out racism in football.
Police on Tuesday arrested three youths in Valencia for “insults and gestures with racist overtones” towards the player that amounted to “an alleged hate crime” during Sunday’s match.
After their statements were taken, they were later “released on condition they appear when summoned” by the public prosecutor’s office or the courts, a police spokesman said.
