The much talked about match ended without any visible untoward incident. Many also began to regard it as a significant milestone on the road to eradicating apartheid. But a few hours after the end of the match, it became known that the Valencia-Real Madrid match was actually not free of racism.
Real’s Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr. was once again subjected to racist comments while playing at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia. A video of an underage viewer calling Vinicius a ‘monkey’ has gone viral on social media. LaLiga has started an investigation into the incident.
Last night, Vinicius Jr. was the talk of Mestar Real-Valencia match for a few days. The 23-year-old forward was the victim of a racist attack while playing here last May. He lost his temper at one point due to constant harassment from the gallery, and later saw a red card as well. The incident caused such an uproar in the football world that FIFA formed a special committee on the elimination of apartheid, headed by Vinny. The Brazilian government also enacted a law. In addition, Valencia was fined a large sum of money, and three visitors were banned from entering the gallery for life.
10 months after the incident, Vinicius played again in Mestalla yesterday. In the match where extra security personnel were deployed, the gallery had anti-discrimination messages. In the match that ended in a 2-2 tie, both of Real’s goals came from Vinicius. As before, Vini was not seen to be a victim of any racist attack on the field.
However, in a video released by ESPN Brazil after the match, a minor spectator in the gallery can be seen calling Vinicius a monkey. The incident was videoed by a woman, who later identified herself as a Brazilian. The woman, Ana Anjos, told ESPN Brazil that many people from the gallery made racist comments aimed at Vinicius. Some people even stopped him when he went to make a video.
The video of Vinicius being called a monkey from the gallery has been posted by many on social media. La Liga is investigating the incident that emerged in the video footage, according to The Athletic. Vinicius had previously been investigated by Spanish league authorities for alleged racist behavior.