Racist chants aimed at Vinicius Jr during the Madrid derby ‘do not constitute a crime’, Spanish prosecutors have concluded, because they occurred in the context of ‘maximum rivalry’ and ‘lasted only a few seconds.’
Real Madrid‘s Brazilian forward was targeted by Atletico Madrid fans, who allegedly called him a ‘monkey’, Caraseru during the game at the Civitas Metropolitano on September 18.
LaLiga collated evidence audio and video evidence of the offensive chanting before filing a report to Spain’s Commission against Violence, which has the authority to close Atletico’s stadium.
They also said once the racist insults had been contextualised, ‘they would not constitute a crime against the dignity of Vinicius’ either.
Vinicius Jr was racially abused during Real Madrid’s derby match at Atletico in September but Spanish prosecutors have concluded no crime was committed
Vinicius celebrates Real’s opening goal scored by Rodrygo (left) during his team’s 2-1 victory
That context was one of ‘maximum rivalry’, they said, with the abuse ‘lasting only a few seconds’. They did acknowledge the chants were ‘unpleasant’ and ‘disrespectful’, however.
Vinicius didn’t score in Real’s 2-1 win on the night but he did dance along with Rodrygo after his compatriot scored the opener. Federico Valverde scored what proved to be the winner.
Video footage appeared to show Atletico fans directing racist abuse at Vinicius outside the stadium pre-match as well.
LaLiga had previously taken a case involving Athletic Bilbao winger Inaki Williams to Spain’s public prosecutor as a hate crime.
Prosecutors concluded it was impossible to identify any individual fan who’d racially abused Vinicius during the match at the Civitas Metropolitano
Racist abuse directed at Vinicius Jr. could be heard on footage from outside the ground
Williams was racially abused by Espanyol supporters when he walked around the perimeter of the club’s RCDE Stadium pitch, having been substituted in a game in January 2020.
Williams, his brother Nico and Vinicius have all been victims of racist abuse at Spanish stadiums in recent seasons.
Earlier this year, UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary committee fined Atletico Madrid £26,300 (€30,000) over racist insults from spectators directed at Real Madrid winger Peter Federico in a youth league game. They were also ordered to play one game behind closed doors.
