Vinicius Junior has called racist insults aimed at Barcelona players by fans during El Clásico “appalling” after La Liga said it had reported them to police and the hate crimes unit.
A video shared on social media showed Lamine Yamal being insulted as he celebrated with his teammates after scoring Barcelona’s third goal in their 4-0 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“The racist insults that occurred at the Bernabeu yesterday were appalling,” Vinicius wrote to
“I support Ramin, Ansu (Party) and Raphinha. I know that Madrid and the police will find the culprits and punish them!”
La Liga previously described the racist abuse as “unacceptable”.
La Liga said: “We will immediately report racist insults and gestures aimed at Barcelona players to the police Hate Crime Group and to the Hate Crime Coordinator of the State Attorney General’s Hate Crime and Discrimination Unit. “We will inform you,” he said. name.
“La Liga strongly condemns the incident that occurred at the Santiago Bernabeu and remains firmly committed to eradicating all types of racist behavior and hatred both on and off the pitch. There is no place for such a scourge in sport.”
Madrid also condemned the abuse, saying an investigation was ongoing.
Real Madrid said in a statement: “We strongly condemn all actions related to racism, xenophobia and violence in football and sport, and we deeply regret the insults inflicted by some fans in a corner of the stadium last night.”
“Real Madrid has launched an investigation to locate and identify the perpetrators of these regrettable and despicable insults and take appropriate disciplinary and judicial action.”
The Spanish government added that a committee fighting violence, racism and other hate crimes in sport will meet on Monday to analyze the incident at the Bernabeu.
The government said, “‘Clásico’ is one of the world’s greatest attractions and truly expresses the importance of soccer to our country.” “There should be absolutely no room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance in this game or any sporting event.”
La Liga has made a concerted effort to tackle racist abuse aimed at players by fans in recent years, with a number of high-profile incidents involving Vinicius.
Last June, three fans were found guilty of racially abusing Vinicius during a match at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium in May 2023, the first such conviction in Spain.
Earlier this week, La Liga held a meeting with the Madrid regional government to address racism, prejudice and discrimination in football.
The federation has called for legal reform to give it additional powers to directly deal with cases of racist abuse.
Saturday’s incident targeting Yamal occurred as the winger was celebrating Barcelona’s 4-0 win in which Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha also scored.
The win puts Barca six points ahead in the LaLiga standings.
