LaLiga confirmed this Thursday to ESPN that it will report to the Spanish Prosecutor's Office the “deplorable racist chants” of a group of Atlético de Madrid fans.
LaLiga stated that the “Vinícius chimpanzee” chants were directed at Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior and were heard in a video circulating on social media.
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The racist abuse came from fans who had gathered outside the Metropolitano stadium before Wednesday's Champions League match against Inter Milan.
European football's governing body, UEFA, can take action if the incident occurred on the stadium grounds and has been reported.
LaLiga said that it will report the chants to the prosecutor's office specializing in hate crimes and discrimination even if it is not a match in its competition because the chants occurred outside the stadium.
“LaLiga is very committed to football being a space free of hate and will continue to relentlessly pursue any attitude of racism, homophobia, violence and hatred,” LaLiga told ESPN.
Brazilian Vinícius, who has been the target of racist abuse since arriving to play for Spain five years ago, addressed the incident on his own social media on Thursday in an appeal to UEFA.
“I hope you have already thought about his punishment. @ChampionsLeague 👍🏿 @UEFA 👍🏿 it is a sad reality that this happens even in games where I am not present!” he wrote.
LaLiga has filed numerous complaints with the authorities for insults or racist chants by opposing fans against Vinícius.
Three people were accused of uttering racist insults at the 23-year-old during Real Madrid's league match in Valencia in May 2023, and Vinícius gave evidence via video link in the ongoing case last October.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the country's government urged the Spanish authorities to act against the racist attacks on Vinícius.
In October, LaLiga presented a system to monitor hate on social networks as part of its fight against racism, and its president, Javier Tebas, admitted that one of its failures was “not detecting certain problems of racism that football has earlier.” Spanish”.
On March 26, Spain will host Brazil at Real Madrid's Bernabéu stadium in an international friendly to raise awareness about racism.
