Can Erozden
22 May 2023•Update: 23 May 2023
ANKARA
Real Madrid on Monday condemned racism against their Brazilian star forward Vinicius Junior during a Spanish La Liga match over the weekend, and lodged a hate crime complaint over the incident.
"Real Madrid C. F. strongly condemns the events that took place yesterday against our player Vinicius Junior,” the team said in a statement.
"These events represent a direct attack on the social and democratic model of coexistence of our State based on the rule of law.”
The Whites added that they lodged a hate crime complaint with Spanish prosecutors after the 22-year-old was racially abused by Valencia fans at Mestalla Stadium.
Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid's head coach, slammed the racism against the Brazilian forward, calling it “unacceptable.”
"Vinicius is the victim," the Italian coach told a press conference after the match.
"The whole stadium was shouting 'monkey, monkey, monkey',” he said. “There is not much to say. I am very sad... You can't play football like that.”
Real Madrid lost to Valencia 1-0 in a Spanish La Liga week 35 match to be third in the standings with 71 points, while Valencia are in the 13th place with 40 points.
After a video assistant referee (VAR) review, Vinicius Junior was sent off near the end of the match for hitting Valencia forward Hugo Duro.
