Seven arrested in Spain for separate racist incidents targeting Vinicius Jr
A hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the shirt of winger Vinicius Jr was hung from a bridge in front of Real Madrid's training ground, the player's club. Alongside it was a red and white banner - the colours of rival team Atletico Madrid - that read "Madrid hates Real".
Four men have now been arrested in Madrid, police said, three of whom were members of "a radical group of fans of a Madrid club", who were previously flagged during matches as "high risk" to help curb violence during games.
Three men were also arrested in Valencia for racist conduct in a match between Valencia and Real Madrid, police said on Twitter.
The arrests come a day after football federation chief Luis Rubiales said Spanish football has a racism problem, following a race-crime complaint lodged by Real Madrid.
After racial slurs were aimed at Vinicius Jr during the match against Valencia on Sunday, Vinicius Jr in a social media post called the racist abuse "inhuman" and asked sponsors and broadcasters to hold LaLiga accountable.
LaLiga, which has come under pressure to do more after the Brazilian president, FIFA, and sporting stars such as France forward Kylian Mbappe, Rio Ferdinand and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton voiced support for Vinicius, said in a statement on Tuesday that it felt "impotent" to tackle the issue while Spanish legislation limited its actions to merely detecting and reporting racist incidents.
LaLiga listed a number of incidents against Black players, including nine against Vinicius, which did not go to trial because of insufficient evidence and urged that the law be modified.
"LaLiga is extremely frustrated by the lack of sanctions and convictions by sporting disciplinary bodies, public administrations and courts public administrations and the jurisdictional bodies to which complaints are made," it said in a statement.
Vinicius has expressed frustration that LaLiga has not exerted pressure on the Spanish football federation, which does have the power to apply stadium closures and bans, according to sources close to the player.
The federation can cancel a match if racist insults continue after a 10-minute period in which the game is paused and the crowd is warned. To date, no match in Spain has enforced it.
Valencia sponsor Puma offers support to Vinicius
Valencia's sponsor Puma offered its support on Tuesday to Vinicius Jr after he was racially abused during their LaLiga match in Spain over the weekend.
"At PUMA, we do not tolerate racism, we condemn discrimination in any form and stand in solidarity with Vinicius Junior and the wider football community in condemning events yesterday," Puma, which sponsors both Valencia and LaLiga, said in a statement to Reuters.
Valencia's other sponsors Coca Cola, Skoda, Cazoo and Caixabank did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Spanish bank Santander, whose title sponsorship with LaLiga ends after this season, also voiced support, saying it "strongly rejects all racism and discrimination" in any form.
Microsoft, which first partnered with LaLiga in 2016, and EA Sports, who will take over as LaLiga's title sponsor from the 2023/24 season, also did not respond to requests for comment.
