This weekend’s meeting between Valencia and Real Madrid at the Estadio Mestalla will see Vinicius Junior return to the scene of the shocking abuse he suffered back in May, an incident that drew global attention to the problem of racism in Spanish football.
During a stoppage in play in the 73rd minute, Vinicius Jr confronted a group of Valencia fans in a stand behind one of the goals and called the attention of match referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea.
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“You, you, you’re the one who called me a monkey,” he appeared to say to the fans, as players from both sides gathered on the scene. He made a gesture as if to say they had been calling him a monkey or making monkey noises towards him.
There was a long stoppage as De Burgos Bengoetxea followed La Liga’s racist abuse protocol, with an announcement made that if racist chanting continued the game would be abandoned.
Vinicius Jr spoke with Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on the sidelines before returning when play restarted. He was visibly distressed and continued to receive jeers from the stands, especially after he was red-carded following a tussle with Valencia’s Hugo Duro during stoppage time.
After the game, Ancelotti said that “the whole stadium” had racially abused his player, but Valencia said this was a mix-up between the Spanish words ‘mono’ (monkey) and ‘tonto’ (fool), and, a few days later, the Italian coach accepted this.
A report from the Spanish Football Federation into the incident detailed several other racist insults that were directed at Vinicius Jr, without quantifying how many individuals were involved, or what part of the stadium it came from. It also noted that “hundreds of fans” had abused him outside the ground before kick-off.
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Valencia maintained that they reacted as quickly as possible to the incident in the stands. Working with TV images and La Liga, they helped local police identify the three young fans. The club also quickly banned all three from Mestalla for life.
But Valencia attracted widespread criticism for other elements of their response, including their reaction to the decision to close their ground for three matches as punishment, which they described as “unfair and disproportionate”. Their stance was always that their club should not be held responsible for the actions of a few individuals.
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Remarkably, some Valencia figures also believed Vinicius Jr had wronged them — in particular with the ‘you’re getting relegated’ gesture he made to the stands as he was leaving the pitch following his red card.
Many at Valencia, the city and the club, continued to feel hard done by. It was recalled that the club had previously been on the other side of a high-profile racism incident, when their defender Mouctar Diakhaby accused Cadiz defender Juan Cala of racial abuse in April 2021. Valencia backed Diakhaby’s version of events, but no punishment was handed out as the authorities deemed it could not be proven.
La Liga president Javier Tebas was also widely condemned for his reaction to what happened last May.
After the game, Vinicius Jr tweeted: “The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, today belongs to racists.”
Tebas replied to his message, claiming that racism in Spanish football was contained to “isolated incidents”. He added: “Before criticising and insulting La Liga it is necessary that you inform yourself properly. Do not let yourself be manipulated and make sure you fully understand each of our competencies and the work we have been doing together.”
Tebas later told ESPN Brasil he “didn’t mean to attack Vinicius Jr” and “if people understood it that way, I have to apologise”. However, the defensive and insensitive response further fuelled the perception that Spanish football was not fully aware of the size and significance of its racism problem.
In early October, Vinicius Jr testified in the ongoing court investigation into what happened at the Mestalla. When reports claimed he testified that “all of the Mestalla” abused him, Valencia reacted with another statement, calling on him to take back his “unfounded lies”. The following day, local newspaper Super Deporte likened him to Pinocchio on its front cover.
Esta es la #SUPERPortada 🗞🆕 de este viernes, 6 de octubre
‘PINOCHIUS’ 🤥#𝐋𝐚𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨
📍 Clica en el enlace y hazte con tu versión digital
🔗 https://t.co/W6PTAmEmcf 🔗 pic.twitter.com/raMd4i4OQG
— Superdeporte (@superdeporte_es) October 5, 2023
At the time, sources, speaking on condition of anonymity as they did not have permission to speak, close to Vinicius Jr told The Athletic it made them worry about the next reception he would receive at the ground.
It has since emerged through further reports in the Spanish media, first carried by news agency EFE, that Vinicius Jr did not testify that “all of the Mestalla” abused him.
At the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony in late October, Vinicius Jr was awarded the Socrates Award, which recognises a footballer’s humanitarian efforts, for the work of his charitable foundation and his fight against racism in football.
“I will remain strong in the fight against racism,” he said in his acceptance speech for the award, while the stage’s big screen showed an image from May’s Mestalla game. “It is a very sad thing to talk about racism nowadays, but we have to continue in the fight so that people suffer less.”
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Valencia reacted with another statement “lamenting the use of their image and association with isolated behaviour that the club punished quickly and strongly”. The statement repeated Valencia’s “absolute condemnation of racism, while also asking for maximum respect for our fans and our club”.
Such statements led some executives at La Liga to believe their counterparts at Valencia had an interest in their fans being angry at Vinicius Jr instead of criticising the club’s unpopular owner, Peter Lim.
In November, Valencia supporters travelling to Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabeu received a letter from the club with their tickets, reminding them that “Valencia fans are not racist” and asking them to “remain above any provocation”. The visiting contingent whistled Vinicius Jr’s name when the line-ups were announced, and there were ‘tonto’ (fool) chants during the first half.
Visibly motivated, Vinicius Jr scored two goals as Madrid easily won 5-1. He celebrated by dancing with his team-mates, a response to those who have often claimed his exuberant style in some way ‘provokes’ a racist response. His tweet after that game also showed he did not believe it had been just three individuals who racially abused him at Mestalla in May.
Fake newwwws!!! 😂 pic.twitter.com/n2ZTqgEP5v
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) November 11, 2023
On February 16, a Super Deporte cover claimed Valencia’s ‘Grada de Animacion’ hardcore fans were preparing a song to sing when Vinicius Jr played at Mestalla, including the words: “The only thing he does is cry and tell lies… the problem is he’s a fool, it was never his colour.”
The reported plan was to trial the song in the home game against Sevilla a fortnight ago, but La Liga and Valencia were watching closely and said it was not sung. Sources at the club and La Liga believe the paper’s coverage was not representative of the vast majority of Valencia fans.
This week, it emerged that the makers of a forthcoming Netflix documentary about Vinicius Jr had an accreditation request rejected for Saturday’s game. Brazilian production company Conspiracao has filmed at the Bernabeu regularly this season and at some of Real’s away games. After discussions with the producers, Valencia declined to allow it access because they were concerned about how footage might be used.
Vinicius Jr’s return to Mestalla has long been circled in many calendars. Valencia and La Liga have been planning for months to minimise the chances of trouble and to ensure swift action is taken if anything does happen.
They have been holding regular meetings to discuss security measures to detect racist behaviour, as well as communication strategies to explain what they are doing. Valencia’s corporate director, Javier Solis, contacted Real Madrid’s director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueno, to explain the preparations and foster a respectful and positive mood between the two teams on the day.
However, Valencia have never apologised to Vinicius Jr, nor has anyone from the club reached out to him.
Last summer, Valencia club executives formed a working group to combat racism and all forms of discrimination. Under the banner of ‘VCF World’, an awareness campaign against racism and discrimination was organised for the 2023-24 campaign.
This involved anti-racism and anti-hate messages at Mestalla during games, plus education events at local schools, with heavy promotion on social media. In November, Guinea international Diakhaby gave a workshop on the importance of fighting discrimination and racism to the club’s youth players.
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Valencia planned to use the occasion of Saturday’s game to showcase their anti-racism efforts. This also included actions to mark the UN-promoted ‘Zero Discrimination Day’, which falls the day before. The branding ‘Mestalla is everyone’s home’ was prepared, along with messages for the video scoreboards, posters and signs inside and outside the stadium, and potentially a banner to be displayed pre-game.
Such plans had to be amended after 10 people died in a fire at an apartment block in Valencia’s Campanar neighbourhood on February 22. Madrid’s visit will be the first time the team have played since that disaster, so there will be a sombre atmosphere, with a minute’s silence, players wearing black armbands, and a tribute to the city’s emergency services. On Friday, Valencia said they would raise a “representative flag against discrimination” at Mestalla as part of ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ to “remember the values of Valencia CF fans”.
Valencia CF and La Liga have also sought to remedy the significant reputational damage they have suffered since May.
A large number of Valencia’s sponsors and club partners, especially companies with ties to Brazil, came under serious pressure to cut all links with the club. After Valencia executives put forward the case that they had acted quickly to punish the individuals involved, no partners ended up leaving. Shirt sponsor Cazoo (the UK-based online car retailer) had already decided to end its agreement with the club, although the incident complicated the break-up.
After Tebas’ initial response, some La Liga partner companies received calls to boycott their products, in Brazil and other markets. It was also a sensitive time given La Liga was soon to begin a new title sponsorship with EA Sports, which also has a close relationship with Vinicius Jr.
At the highest levels of La Liga, it was quickly realised that they had to react. As well as apologising for his tweet, Tebas admitted in an interview with The Athletic that: “It was a difficult week, with this risk of reputational damage.”
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There was also frustration among the wider team at La Liga HQ. They felt that they took the issue of racism much more seriously than anyone else in Spanish sport, and were often the only ones actively trying to do something about it by helping to identify and prosecute those involved.
For the 2023-24 season, a ‘La Liga vs Racismo’ platform was initiated to consolidate education, prevention and action against racism by La Liga and its clubs. Fans attending all Primera and Segunda games were reminded to respect rival players by posters, leaflets and stadium announcements. A ‘La Liga Mood’ tool monitoring hate on social media was launched, while ‘La Liga vs Racismo’ branded armbands were handed out at games.
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La Liga also discussed internally how to better respond to such incidents. Anti-racism initiatives elsewhere were studied, including in North American sports, the Premier League, France, Germany and Brazil. Voluntary workshops were organised for La Liga staff, with outside experts presenting on issues including institutional racism, diversity and power dynamics. La Liga officials recently visited the office of Spain’s chief prosecutor for hate and discrimination crimes, Miguel Angel Aguilar.
The biggest focus for La Liga is on detecting incidents of racism and denouncing them all to the authorities. This is led by a match director present at every game, working closely with stadium security, police and broadcasters. The process worked in early October when Vinicius Jr was racially abused at Sevilla’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, and an individual was quickly ejected and banned from returning for life, a move that Vinicius Jr welcomed.
However, a continuing issue for all involved is that there has never been a criminal conviction for racially abusing a player at a Spanish football game. The first serious attempt to secure one came after Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams was allegedly abused at Espanyol in January 2020. La Liga and the prosecutors have asked for a two-year prison sentence for the individuals identified but four years later, the case has still not been resolved.
After multiple Atletico Madrid fans were recorded chanting “Vinicius, you are a monkey” in September 2022, prosecutors in Madrid declined to bring charges as the chanting had lasted “just a few seconds” and “took place within a context of football rivalry”. La Liga filed a complaint to Catalan police regarding alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr during Madrid’s 2-1 victory at Barcelona in November, but no individuals have yet been charged.
Tebas also told The Athletic last summer he would like La Liga to have the competency to sanction individuals and clubs when racist incidents happen — but this would need a change in the law, and government and Spanish FA agreement, which has not been forthcoming.
As with everything in Spanish football, there are also often competing interests which make dealing with such an already difficult issue as racism even more complex. Madrid have not taken part in past anti-racism initiatives organised by La Liga, as part of a general rejection of everything to do with Tebas.
There will be extra observers at the stadium on Saturday, but there is also confidence that the existing infrastructure (including 200 cameras, either TV or security) works well. The regulations and protocols will again be followed, the same as at last May’s game. “If one idiot does one thing for one second La Liga will act on it,” said a source involved in the planning.
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Amid all this, Vinicius Jr himself was training normally with his team-mates, intending to prepare for the game the same as any other.
While the Mestalla incident generated the most attention and controversy, he has suffered racist abuse in more than 10 Spanish stadiums over the last two years.
Sadly, returning to the scene of the crime is nothing new for him.
(Top photo: Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)