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Support for Vinicius after Real star suffers racial abuse in La Liga
Football and beyond rallied around Vinicius Junior on Monday, demanding action against racism, after the Real Madrid star was abused once again.
BARCELONA - Football and beyond rallied around Vinicius Junior on Monday, demanding action against racism after the Real Madrid star was abused once again in Spain's La Liga.
The 22-year-old Brazilian international forward was targeted during a 1-0 defeat at Valencia on Sunday and was later sent off.
Vinicius issued a strongly worded statement afterwards saying that La Liga "belongs to racists" and several Brazilian players past and present offered their support.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the abuse, telling a news conference at the close of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan: "He was attacked. He was called a 'monkey'."
Vinicius has frequently been targeted in La Liga and the latest incident came at Valencia's Mestalla when he was racially abused by a home supporter.
Vinicius stood in front of fans behind the goal and pointed to the apparent culprit. Play was delayed for several minutes in the second half.
| JOSE JORDAN
Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea spoke to stadium officials, who made an announcement calling for racist insults to stop before play resumed around 10 minutes later.
In his post-match report, the referee wrote that a fan shouted "monkey, monkey" at the player.
Vinicius was sent off in added time at the end of the game for hitting Hugo Duro during a brawl, with Valencia triumphing through Diego Lopez's first-half goal.
Vinicius left the pitch making a gesture with his hands indicating Valencia were heading down to Spain's second division.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Spanish football needed to be prepared to halt matches.
"The Spanish league has a problem, and Vinicius is not the problem. Vinicius is the victim. There's a very serious problem," Ancelotti said.
"The fact I thought about taking him off because of the racist atmosphere does not seem good to me," Ancelotti told reporters.
"What has happened today has happened before, but not like that, it's unacceptable."
Vinicius has been racially abused at several stadiums this season in Spain and an effigy of him was hung from a bridge in the Spanish capital by Atletico Madrid fans.
La Liga have filed legal complaints to Spanish authorities on multiple occasions this season, with the league pledging on Sunday to do so again after investigating.