Vinicius praises Sevilla after ejecting fan for racism
Real Madrid footballer Vinicius Jr has praised Sevilla for acting swiftly to eject and report a fan to authorities for allegedly racially abusing him.
An image posted by Vinicius on social media appeared to show a man making a racist gesture towards him.
Vinicius said a second clip sent to him showed another young fan being abusive.
After the La Liga match, Sevilla said “a member of the public was identified, ejected from the stadium and handed over to legal authorities”.
“Furthermore, the internal disciplinary regulations will be strictly applied to him and he will be expelled as a member imminently,” the club said.
In a statement, the football club continued that it “condemns any racist and xenophobic behaviour, even if it is in isolation, as is the case, and shows its willingness and collaboration with the authorities to eradicate these attitudes, which do not represent a fan like that of Sevilla”.
Real Madrid, who currently top Spain’s La Liga, were held to a 1-1 draw away to Seville at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday evening.
Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the match, Vinicius said the latest incident was “number 19 and counting”.
“Congratulations to Sevilla for their quick positioning and punishment in yet another sad episode for Spanish football,” he wrote.
“Unfortunately, I had access to a video of another racist act in this Saturday’s match, this time carried out by a child.
“I am very sorry that there is no one to educate you. I invest, and I invest a lot, in education in Brazil to form citizens with attitudes different from these.
“The face of today’s racist is plastered on websites as on many other occasions. I hope the Spanish authorities do their part and change the legislation once and for all.”
He also called for people caught to be “criminally punished” too.
Vinicius has been repeatedly targeted with racist insults from opposition supporters.
Earlier this month the 23-year-old gave evidence in the trial of three Valencia fans accused of racially abusing him during a game in May at the Estadio Mestalla.
The racist abuse that Vinicius has had to deal with in the last 12 months
- September 2022 – Some Atletico Madrid fans sang racist songs toward Vinicius outside their Wanda Metropolitano stadium before Real Madrid played them. Atletico Madrid later condemned the “unacceptable” chants by a “minority” of fans.
- September 2022 – some pundits in Spain criticised Vinicius’ goal celebration, in which he danced by the corner flag. He responded by saying “the happiness of a black Brazilian in Europe” is behind the criticism.
- December 2022 – Vinicius appeared to be subjected to racist abuse at Valladolid while he walked past fans after being substituted. La Liga said it has filed charges relating to the racist abuse of Vinicius to the “relevant judicial, administrative and sporting bodies”.
- January 2023 – An effigy of the Real Madrid winger was hung from a bridge near the club’s training ground before a game against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey. Atletico said the incident was “repugnant”.
- February 2023 – Mallorca fans were filmed allegedly racially abusing the Brazilian during a game against Real.
- March 2023 – La Liga said “intolerable racist behaviour was once again observed against Vinicius” in a game against Barcelona and it had reported the racist insults to the Barcelona Court of Instruction.
- May 2023 – Vinicius suffers racist abuse against Valencia.