Spanish football admits racism problem after Vinicius incident

Spanish soccer has a racism problem, its football federation chief, Luis Rubiales, said on Monday, echoing criticism by Brazil after Real Madrid lodged a race crime complaint following insults hurled at their Brazilian forward Vinicius Jnr.

The top-flight LaLiga is under pressure to do more to combat racism after the Brazilian president, Fifa and fellow sporting stars such as France forward Kylian Mbappe, Rio Ferdinand and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton voiced support for Vinicius.

In a social media post, Vinicius Jnr called racist abuse “inhuman” and asked sponsors and broadcasters to hold LaLiga accountable.

“What is missing to criminalise these people? And punish the clubs sportively? Why don’t the sponsors charge LaLiga? Don’t the televisions bother to broadcast this barbarity every weekend?” Vinicius said.

The statement came a day after the match against Valencia at the Mestalla stadium was stopped for 10 minutes after the 22-year-old Brazilian striker pointed out fans who he said were hurling racist comments at him.

“The problem is very serious, and press releases don’t work anymore. Neither does blaming me to justify criminal acts,” he added.

I am sorry for those Spaniards who disagree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.

Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro’s iconic landmark, had its lights switched off on Monday night in a show of solidarity for the Real Madrid forward.

Vinicius, Real Madrid’s second-top scorer this season in all competitions (23) behind Karim Benzema (29), had described Spain as a “country of racists” after the match against Valencia on Sunday.

Presidential backing

That provoked a response from LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who said on Twitter that enough was being done and that Vinicius should inform himself “before you criticise and slander LaLiga”.

“The first thing is to recognise that we have a problem in our country,” Rubiales said at a press conference in Madrid on Monday. It is “a serious problem that also stains an entire team, an entire fan base, an entire club, an entire country”.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Top video game reproduces racial stereotypes in football

The Brazilian government summoned the Spanish ambassador on Monday to explain the incident, and its foreign ministry said that after “yet another inadmissible episode” it had concluded that effective measures had not been taken by the Spanish authorities to prevent such acts of racism.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter there was “zero tolerance for racism in football”.

“Sport is founded on the values of tolerance and respect. Hatred and xenophobia should have no place in our football and in our society,” Sanchez added.

An angry Vinicius Jnr points out fans who racially abused him during Real Madrid's LaLiga match against Valencia at the weekend. (Photo: Mateo Villalba / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images)

Spain’s Sports Council previously said it would study footage of the game to single out any perpetrators for prosecution.

Videos posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed hundreds of Valencia fans singing “Vinicius is a monkey” as the Real Madrid bus arrived at the stadium before the match.

The prosecutors archived the case because the chants of ‘monkey’ were only said a couple of times and ‘only lasted a few seconds’.

“I am sorry for those Spaniards who disagree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists,” Vinicius wrote on Twitter.

Rubiales labelled Tebas’s comments “irresponsible”.

“Probably Vinicius is more right than we think and we all need to do more about racism,” Rubiales said.

Numerous incidents

Police detained seven men on Tuesday over separate alleged racist incidents against Vinicius Jr as Spain’s main soccer league urged changes to Spanish law that would enable it to take steps to curb racism in stadiums.

A hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No 20 jersey of winger Vinicius Jr was hung from a bridge in front of Real Madrid’s training ground, the player’s club. Alongside it was a 16-metre red and white banner — the colours of rival team Atletico Madrid — that read "Madrid hates Real".

Three men were arrested in Valencia for racist conduct in a match between Valencia and Real Madrid, police said on Twitter.

Four men were also arrested in Madrid, police said, three of whom were members of “a radical group of fans of a Madrid club”, who were previously flagged during matches as “high risk” to help curb violence during games.

Prosecutors dropped a complaint filed for racist chants aimed at the player in September during another game against Atletico Madrid.

The prosecutors archived the case because the chants of “monkey” were only said a couple of times and “only lasted a few seconds”, highlighting how Spain’s penal code makes it difficult to prosecute racist incidents at football games.

“LaLiga uses these legal cases to wash its hands, even though it actually has the power to make decisions and impose sanctions by itself,” said Moha Gerehou, a Spanish journalist and anti-racism activist.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Racism in Football: When will authorities listen to black players and act against racism?

“LaLiga should be able to close stadiums and force a number of matches to be played behind closed doors in these cases, as that puts the pressure on the clubs and the fans themselves.”

Spanish prosecutors officially investigated three cases of racist acts during the 2021-22 season, according to the interior ministry. Under current rules, people found guilty of racist behaviour can be fined up to €4,000 (about R83,000) and banned from stadiums for a year.

There is growing momentum for Spain to do more to tackle the problem. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on Fifa and LaLiga to “take real action”.

Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton sent Vinicius a virtual fist bump on Instagram, adding: “Standing with you @vinjr.”

Fifa president Gianni Infantino called for LaLiga to enforce a rule that penalises clubs with points deductions if racist chants persist. He added that racists should be banned for life from stadiums worldwide.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez called for similarly drastic measures: “You have to stop the match... One insult and everyone goes home.” Reuters/DM