Vinicius Jr: Spanish jurists defend sports solution – 05/23/2023 – Sport

With legislation that provides for penalties of 1 to 4 years in prison for those who commit racist acts, Spanish jurists argue that the authorities focus on defining harsh sporting punishments for perpetrators of offenses in football stadiums.

Spanish experts heard by Sheet said they believe that Vinicius Junior’s case should be resolved in the sports field, not in the criminal field. Both believe that, in practice, banning fans from stadiums would be more effective than fighting for convictions in court for hate crimes, which is where racism fits into Spanish legislation.

“In my opinion, Vinicius’ case is a question of football stadiums. I think it would be more blunt, instead of referring to the Penal Code. to impose a prison sentence that will not be served,” said magistrate Ignacio González Vega, an expert on the penal code and member of the group Judges for Democracy.

Asked why the prison would not be served, Vega replied: “Well, because, perhaps, it is the first crime that the person has committed. So, if it is a sentence of less than two years, the execution of the sentence could be suspended.”

In fact, hate crime in Spain provides for a sentence of 1 to 4 years in prison for “those who publicly encourage, promote or incite hatred (…) against a specific person on the grounds of: (…) motives racists”.

Even so, there is still room for arrests, which do not happen. It is noteworthy that, on Tuesday (23), the police arrested four fans accused of involvement in the case of the doll hanging from a bridge in Madrid wearing Vinicius Junior’s uniform. The case took place in January of this year and has been under investigation since then, without anyone having been arrested.

Three other suspects were arrested for offending the player in the match on Sunday (21), against Valencia – the occasion when the world turned to demand effective measures from Spain.

“Well, certainly now they’ve been instructed to act in that case,” admits Vega. “Yes, they had probably let the case of the doll pass and now, when other news came out, these citizens have been arrested. It is true that this gives food for thought. The doll is several months old and why now proceed with the arrest of the alleged perpetrators? It is true that this does not contribute much to a good image of Spain, the police and the Spanish authorities. I agree with you that it does not look good. They should have acted then and not now.”

Specializing in sports law and professor of the philosophy of law at the University of Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, ​​Professor Alberto Carrio Sampedro is also not interested in criminal law. Even though he vehemently condemns racism, he believes that the way out of the problem lies in education.

“A football stadium is not a place where you are free from the legal responsibilities that we all must comply with. I believe that the best solution we can expect from legislation, both from administrative and judicial measures that penalize this type of behavior, is to truly educate the population so that this does not happen again”, he said.

The fact is that even if the entity that organizes the Spanish championship denounces cases, they walk slowly through the Spanish Justice. This Tuesday (23), that institution, LaLiga, stated that it seeks more powers of punishment, such as banning access in cases of members/fans and the application of financial sanctions.

“LaLiga feels tremendously frustrated by the lack of sanctions and condemnations by the sports disciplinary bodies and the public and judicial administrations to which LaLiga sends the complaints,” the organization said in a statement.

The entity itself pointed out that, since the creation of the Department of Integrity and Security of the League, in the 2015/16 season, 13 cases of racist incidents/acts were identified. Of these, 9 had Vinicius Junior as a target. Most, without any punishment until today.

In other European countries, racism seems to be being fought more efficiently by sports organizations, even though arrests are rare. According to a report by the Spanish daily El País, in Germany, after defender Jordan Torunarigha was insulted with screams that imitated those of a monkey, the German Football Federation fined the opposing team in 50,000 euros (R$ 268,000). In 2021-2022, 911 games were suspended in the country across all categories, a record number, due to violent incidents or discrimination.

The English Premier League launched just over two years ago an initiative called the No Room for Racism Action Plan. Annual statistics indicate that, during the 2021-22 season, the number of complaints made by fans who personally witnessed abusive behavior in English stadiums increased by 41%.

Darren Moore, of the Premier’s Black Participants Advisory Group, said last year that “we have seen progress over the past 12 months in tackling discrimination or creating more opportunities for players and coaches from underrepresented groups in professional football.”

The French sports code provides for a year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros (R$ 80,000) for anyone who incites spectators to hate the referee, a player or any person or group. Additionally, in 2019, the Professional Football League and the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism opened a website for victims and witnesses to anonymously report acts of racism, anti-Semitism, sexism and homophobia.

Crarrio Sampedro recalls that giving powers to LaLiga is not so simple, as the organization is nothing more than a private entity that manages the organization of the Spanish championship. “If they are sanctions within the sports field, in the sense of powers to close a stadium or prohibit the entry of these people, it seems good to me that LaLiga can have some kind of power in this area”, said the professor of philosophy of law.

“But, if we are talking about other types of sanctions, such as directly imposing fines on people or imposing other types of measures, such as deprivation of liberty, this could not be, because LaLiga is a private entity and cannot have powers in this This is what the courts of justice are for, which are the ones that determine responsibilities.