Real Madrid winger Vinícius Junior presented himself, this Thursday (5), to the court in Madrid, Spain, to give testimony about the racist insults he received from Valencia fans, at the Mestalla stadium, on May 21.
++ 2030 World Cup will be held in 6 countries, with opening games in South America
According to information from the EFE news agency, the Brazilian confirmed that he was a victim of racism and intends to pursue legal action for this.
The court was also attended by the lawyer for the three young people, between 18 and 21 years old, who were identified and banned from accessing the Mestalla for life. Manuel Izquierdo stated that “Vinícius had an arrogant attitude” and that “provocation is inherent to football”.
++ LeBron James dismisses retirement rumors
Thus, in an official statement, Valencia accused Vinícius Júnior of uttering ‘unfounded lies’ and demanded a public retraction from the player. Check out the statement released by the club below.
“In the wake of the information published regarding the alleged statement made in court by the footballer Vinicius Jr. claiming that the entire Mestalla stadium had uttered racist insults at the match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid CF last season, the Club wishes to express its surprise, rejection and indignation.
As coach Carlo Ancelotti himself publicly acknowledged, in no case can the behaviour be generalised to the entire Mestalla stadium.
The Club is fully aware of the seriousness of this matter. Racism has no place in football or in society, but it cannot be combated with fallacies or unfounded lies. This issue requires the involvement of everyone and Valencia CF understands that we must be scrupulously precise and responsible in this type of manifestations.
The Valencia CF fanbase cannot be labelled as racist and Valencia CF demands that Vinicius Jr. publicly rectifies his alleged statement made this morning”.
It is worth remembering that the case happened when Valencia and Real Madrid faced each other on May, in a Spanish Championship game, at the Mestalla stadium.
Fans of the home team called Vinicius a monkey from the moment the bus arrived at the scene. During the game, insults continued. In the second half, the Brazilian pointed out two fans who were imitating the animal’s sounds and committing racism against him.
Thus, the game was stopped for a few minutes, and was resumed. In the final minutes, confusion between players from both teams resulted in Vini being sent off after VAR interference.
Make sure to like our Facebook and Instagram pages for more Miami Cycling Show news.
