Real Madrid asks Spanish prosecutors to investigate latest racist chants targeting Vinicius

Fri, Mar 15, 2024
Soccer News (AP)

MADRID (AP) - Real Madrid has filed a complaint with Spanish state prosecutors asking them to investigate the reported racist chants aimed at forward Vinicius Junior outside the stadiums of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona before Champions League games this week.

Madrid said Friday that it asked prosecutors to request footage from security cameras outside the two stadiums "in order to identify the perpetrators of the abuse."

On Thursday, Vinicius retweeted a video that showed Atletico fans jumping and chanting "Vinicius chimpanzee" before the team played Inter Milan on Wednesday. The video was initially published by the site Agente Libre Digital.

There were also reports of hate chants against Vinicius before the Barcelona-Napoli match on Tuesday. Spanish radio Cadena SER published a video in which Barcelona fans chanted "Die, Vinicius," before the team's 3-1 win.

"Real Madrid condemns these violent attacks of racism, discrimination and hate against our player Vinicius Junior, which have sadly been a recurrent and ongoing concern for some time," the club said.

The Spanish league said on Thursday it would report the incident to the prosecutor's office for hate crimes.

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Vinicius, who is Black, has been regularly targeted by racist slurs during away games in Spain, especially in the last two seasons.

In 2023, Atletico fans hanged an effigy of Vinicius from a bridge in Madrid before a city derby. Prosecutors sought four-year prison sentences for the four hardcore fans accused by authorities of committing the act.

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