After the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, multiple leagues around the world decided to implement anti-racism campaigns. Whether that would be holding up a banner, having anti-racism wording on jerseys, or kneeling before kick-off. Unfortunately, racism in soccer has been a big problem, and in Spain it has become quite visible.

The Background

On May 21st, 2023, Spanish teams Real Madrid and Valencia were set to play each other at the Estadio de Mestalla in Valencia. Valencia, who has had an awful season, needed a win to save themselves from potential relegation. On the other hand, LaLiga and European champions Real Madrid were already guaranteed to finish 2nd at best, and so had virtually nothing to play for.

Real Madrid dominated the game, but an early goal in the 33rd minute from Valencia’s Diego López was enough for them to defeat the champions 1-0. However, the result was completely overshadowed by a huge clash between the players in the 7th minute of added time (after the 90 minutes). Real’s Vinicius Jr. was sent off during this period.

An altercation between both sets of players occurred. Vinicius had now been getting numerous racial slurs and insults thrown at him from Valencia supporters, such as ‘mono’ which means ‘monkey’. The arguments between players became physical, and he was put into a chokehold. Eventually, he slapped one of the players.

After an intervention by the referee, Vinicius was given a red card and was handed a one-match ban, while the Valencia players went unpunished by the referees. This caused major outrage amongst Real Madrid supporters and it was clear that something was truly wrong.

The Response

As mentioned above, there was a large amount of outrage from the general public. On Instagram, Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand wrote “Bro you need protecting… who is protecting Vini Jr in Spain? He receives a red card after being choked and receiving racial abuse during the game… wtf?… How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this s***? I see pain, I see disgust, I see him needing help… and the authorities don’t do s*** to help him. People need to stand together and demand more from the authorities that run our game. No one deserves this, yet you are allowing it. There needs to be a unified approach to this otherwise it will be swept under the carpet AGAIN.”

After this incident, LaLiga decided to revoke Vinicius Jr.’s red card. However, once Vinicius released a statement on Twitter, LaLiga President Javier Tebas bizarrely wrote on Twitter that “before you criticize and insult LaLiga, you need to inform yourself well, Vini Jr. Don’t let yourself be manipulated.” However, he retracted that statement and apologized after extreme backlash. Valencia was fined heavily and had its stadium capacity reduced. Fans who were recognized as chanting racial slurs were permanently banned by the Spanish club.

Not the first time

This, unfortunately, is not the first time there has been an incident of racism in the Spanish league. Earlier this season, 4 Atlético Madrid (rivals of Real Madrid) fans were arrested for hanging an effigy of a bridge with Vinicius Jr.’s shirt on it. There has been a major issue of racism recently in Spain and until severe action is taken, than it will continue to spread. Real Madrid have filed a complaint to Spanish police on hate charges. Only time will tell to see if they will go through. However, the most important thing is that this comes to an end.

By Matthew Polyak