Vinicius Jnr racist abuse barely makes the front pages in Spain

Racist abuse suffered by Vinicius Jnr barely gets a mention on Spanish front pages… with Real Madrid’s basketball win and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi pursuit dominating instead

• Brazilian winger was racially abused by a spectator during Real’s loss at Valencia
• His club have vowed to take legal action over what they said was a ‘hate crime’
• But the incident was only given a fleeting mention on Monday’s front pages 

The shocking racist abuse suffered by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jnr barely warranted a mention on the Spanish front pages on Monday morning.

Real’s 1-0 defeat at Valencia in LaLiga on Sunday night was paused for several minutes after the Brazilian winger claimed spectators behind the goal at the Mestalla were abusing him.

Vinicius said in an Instagram message afterwards that ‘the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi, today belongs to the racists.’

Furious Real, meanwhile, are taking legal action over the ‘hate crime’ the 22-year-old suffered.

Vinicius was sent off in added time at the end of the match after striking out at Hugo Duro during a melee – the first red card of his career.

Real Madrid star Vinicius Jnr said he was racially abused by a spectator during his team’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia on Sunday

The Brazilian winger angrily pointed out the spectator in the stands at the Mestalla

Marca’s front cover on Monday featured no reference to the Vinicius racism incident 

But the incident was afforded only a fleeting mention on page one of the Spanish sports dailies.

Madrid-based Marca devoted their entire front page to Real’s dramatic 79-78 win over Olympiacos in the EuroLeague basketball final, with no reference to Vinicius.

Diario AS also led firmly with the basketball but did at least mention the racist incident on their front cover – albeit right at the bottom.

‘Mestalla Vinicius madness’ ran a sub-deck headline with a small corner picture of the player pointing out his alleged abuser in the stands.

‘The Brazilian forces a fan to be expelled for a racist gesture… then he sees the red card,’ they add.

AS also quoted Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, who said afterwards: ‘There is a problem and it’s not Vini.’

While the Catalan sports papers concentrated on Lionel Messi’s potential return to the club from Paris Saint-Germain, there was at least a prominent mention of the Vinicius incident.

‘Vinicius mess,’ stated Mundo Deportivo at the top of their first page. ‘He ended up being expelled despite suffering insults.’

Diario AS did mention the Vinicius drama on their front page, but below the basketball

Sport called it a ‘scandal’ but their lead story concerned Barcelona’s Lionel Messi pursuit

Messi also dominated the front cover of Mundo Deportivo on Monday with Vinicius above

They also quoted a little bit more from the player’s Instagram message: ‘Sorry for the Spaniards who do not agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.’

Diario Sport described what happened as a ‘scandal’ as they described Vinicius being ‘expelled for an act of aggression after being insulted by a member of the public.’

It is not the first time he has been targeted by racist abuse this season, and the Brazilian took to Twitter afterwards to declare that Spanish football has reached a new low after previously having a league that was the envy of Europe.

‘It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga,’ he claimed.

With Madrid chasing the game, Vinicius (right) was sent off for slapping Valencia’s Hugo Duro 

It comes after the Brazilian has been the subject of racial discrimination on several occasions this season

‘The competition thinks it’s normal, the Federation does too and the opponents encourage it. I’m so sorry. 

‘The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists. A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world. 

‘I’m sorry for the Spaniards who don’t agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no defense. I agree. But I am strong and I will go to the end against racists. Even if far from here.’

This led to a row with LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who claimed the player’s criticism was ‘unfair’.

Vinicius took to social media after the game to declare ‘I will go to the end against racists’ 

But LaLiga president Tebas hit back at him and urged him to ‘inform himself properly’

The Madrid winger then blasted Tebas in a stinging response, insisting the time for words was over as he demanded that action be taken

Vinicius Jnr has had to put up with racism from rival fans on numerous occasions this season, with arguably the most high-profile incident coming when his team faced arch-rivals Atletico Madrid in September.

Atletico supporters allegedly called him a ‘monkey’ when the sides faced each other at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, but a Spanish prosecutor later concluded that the chants ‘did not constitute a crime’ as they ‘lasted only a few seconds’.

Vinicius Jnr was targeted by further racist chants from Valladolid fans in January, and Mallorca and Osasuna supporters the following month, leading to LaLiga filing complaints to the courts, with Atletico forward Alvaro Morata calling for those responsible to be banned for life from attending matches.

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