La Liga to Report Racist Chants Against Vinicius Junior to Spain’s Legal Authorities

La Liga to Report Racist Chants Aimed at Vinicius Junior to Legal Authorities

La Liga has taken a strong stance against the “deplorable racist chants” aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior by Atletico Madrid fans. The incident occurred prior to their Champions League last-16 match against Inter Milan on Wednesday night.

Despite the match not falling under La Liga’s jurisdiction, the league has announced that they will report the racist chants to Spain’s legal authorities. In a statement, La Liga expressed their commitment to making football a hate-free space and vowed to crack down on racism, homophobia, violence, and hatred in all competitions.

Vinicius Junior has called on UEFA, the governing body of the Champions League, to issue sanctions against the perpetrators. Videos circulating on social media showed some Atletico fans engaging in chants that referred to Vinicius as a “chimpanzee.”

This is not the first time Vinicius has been subjected to racist abuse by fans. Atletico supporters have targeted him in the past, as have fans of other La Liga clubs such as Valencia and Sevilla.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has previously apologized for downplaying Vinicius’ experiences of racism in Spain. He has since stated that with the right legal framework in place, racism could be eradicated from the competition within six months.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has also called for stricter measures to tackle racism in football globally. He will push for these measures to be adopted at FIFA’s Congress in May, including the possibility of teams forfeiting matches in cases of racist behavior by their supporters.