LaLiga and Brazilian embassy commit to fight racism

A LaLiga – organizer of the Spanish Championship – and the Brazilian embassy in Spain “vehemently condemned any racist manifestation” and pledged this Friday to “continue fighting against this scourge that affects sport and undermines the image of Spain, a welcoming country where athletes of all origins, creeds and ethnicities can thrive”.

The two institutions made a joint institutional statement after a meeting held between the Brazilian ambassador, Orlando Leite, and the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, who “agreed that there is no place in the contemporary world for racist acts like those that occurred on May 21 in Valencia, directed against the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior”.

According to LaLiga, the declaration considers that “at this moment it is important that the competent institutions act to identify and punish the offenders in an exemplary way, sending a clear message that racist and xenophobic manifestations will not be tolerated”.

After the incidents that occurred in the game between Valencia and Real Madrid, LaLiga filed a complaint with the Competition Committee of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Anti-Violence Commission, claiming powers to act in these situations and recalling that it had filed nine complaints of racist incidents against the Brazilian player, of which three were archived by the Public Ministry.

This week, the prosecutor specializing in hate crimes at the Valencia Provincial Attorney’s Office officially opened a criminal investigation process and the three young people aged between 18 and 21 who were arrested on the 23rd were released after giving testimony.

The police accused them of an alleged crime related to the exercise of fundamental rights and public freedoms.

The investigation, which had the collaboration of Valencia, remains open to identify other possible perpetrators of similar conduct.

For its part, the Competition Committee of the RFEF sanctioned Valencia with the closure for five games of the sector of the stands of the Mestalla stadium where the fans who insulted Vinícius were.