Racism scandal

Automatically saved draft

Vinicius Junior(Bild: APA/AFP/Josep LAGO)

After renewed racist insults against Brazil's star Vinicius Junior, his club Real Madrid has filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office for hate and discrimination. Real condemn the "violent, racist, discriminatory and hateful attacks against our player Vinicius Junior, which have unfortunately been occurring repeatedly for some time and are a constant problem", the club said in a statement on Friday.

David Alaba's club will continue to "advocate a zero-tolerance approach against such despicable incidents". The current complaint relates to incidents in which Vinicius, who has been repeatedly subjected to insults for a good two years, did not even play. Before the Champions League matches between arch-rivals FC Barcelona and Napoli and between Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan, fans chanted discriminatory chants against Vinicius.

Lifelong bans
Real Madrid asked the public prosecutor's office to request the available footage from both locations from the security forces in order to identify the perpetrators. The 23-year-old Brazil international addressed UEFA and Champions League officials directly on Thursday. "I hope you have already thought about their punishment," Vinicius wrote on X. "It's a sad reality that happens even in matches where I'm not present!"

According to ESPN, Spain's La Liga also intends to report the incidents to the Spanish police. In the past, Vinicius had repeatedly called for lifelong bans for fans who have attracted attention with racist behavior or racist remarks.