‘Hate speech has no place in LaLiga’- La liga come down heavily on the fans for abusing Vinicius Jr.
La Liga has come down heavily after Atletico Madrid fans were caught out racially abusing Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. The incident happened outside the Metropolitano Stadium ahead of Sunday’s fixture.
Hundreds of Atletico supporters could be heard singing, “Vinicius, you are a monkey, you are monkey” in a video published on social media by radio station Cope in the build-up to the Madrid derby, which Real Madrid won 2-1. The video of the fans of Atletico Madrid shouting at a high pitch in a continuous manner has gone viral on social media.
Local media also reported that monkey noises and chants of “Vinicius, die” were heard throughout the game.
“We denounce all incidents inside and outside stadiums,” a La Liga spokesperson told the BBC.
“We work with clubs to keep our football friendly and enjoyable. “Hate speech has no place in La Liga and we always work with the clubs and the authorities to identify and bring to justice any such case.”
No comments have come from either of the clubs regarding this horrible incident.
Inicius’ goal celebrations, in which he dances, have drawn criticism from television pundits in Spain recently. Pedro Bravo, president of the Association of Spanish Agents, speaking on a Spanish football chat show said, “in Spain, you have to respect rivals and stop playing the monkey”, leading to accusations of racism.
He tendered an apology later for the harsh remarks. Vinicius has often been in the eye of the storm and he has had a stormy relationship with the Spanish press.
Atletico Madrid said on Twitter that there fan base respects teams with a lot of passion and give a lot of respect to the opponents. This was not an official statement by the club but this notification has only come on twitter. This was an indirect comment as there has been no direct response from the club.
