Vinícius Júnior racially abused by Mallorca fans during Real Madrid defeat
Mallorca fans were filmed racially abusing Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior during the 1-0 win at home against the La Liga champions on Sunday.
Supporters could be heard calling the 22-year-old forward a monkey in a video published by the streaming company Dazn on social media.
In a radio interview the manager, Javier Aguirre, denied his players had targeted Vinícius in the ill-tempered match, in which the Brazilian suffered 10 fouls, the most by any player in La Liga this season.
Vinícius has been subjected to racial abuse by fans on at least three occasions – at the Camp Nou against Barcelona in November 2021, at Atlético Madrid in September 2022 and at Valladolid in late December 2022.
Spanish police are also investigating a possible hate crime against him after a mannequin wearing his No 20 shirt was hung from a bridge in front of the club’s training centre before the Madrid derby two weeks ago.
Prosecutors in Madrid decided not press charges over racist chanting aimed at Vinícius in September after finding it had “lasted a few seconds” and had not constituted a crime.
In December, Vinícius accused La Liga of continuing to do nothing about racist fans at matches, after videos on social media showed some shouting abuse and throwing objects at him the previous day at Valladolid.
La Liga condemned all forms of hate speech and said it was following up on instances of racism at the match. Its president, Javier Tebas, said Vinícius’s accusations were “unfair and untrue”.
Vinícius is the most-fouled player in Europe’s top seven leagues by a big margin. He has been fouled 79 times, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar second on 59.
Real Madrid will travel to Morocco for the Club World Cup on Monday, with several key players unavailable for Wednesday’s semi-final with Egypt’s Al Ahly in Rabat.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, forward Karim Benzema and defenders Éder Militão, Lucas Vázquez and Ferland Mendy are all unavailable. Courtois, Benzema and Militão may be fit in time for Sunday’s final, should Carlo Ancelotti’s side progress.