The city’s Public Prosecution office launched an investigation into an alleged “hate crime” that Vinicius was subjected to, during his team’s loss Sunday to Valencia in the 35th stage of La Liga, and sparked condemning reactions from around the world.
Junior accuses La Liga and Spain of racism after he was abused from the stands during the defeat by Valencia at the Mestalla stadium on Sunday.
Vinicius faced the fans who attacked him, and the match stopped for 10 minutes, then he clashed with Valencia players and was expelled in the second half.
Vinicius wrote on Twitter after the match, “It was not the first, second, or third time. Racism is usual in the Spanish League. The competition management considers it normal. The Spanish Federation considers it normal and the competitors encourage it.”
He added, “The championship previously belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi, and today it belongs to the racists,” according to what Reuters quoted him.
He continued, saying: “A beautiful country, it welcomed me and I loved it, but it accepted to export to the world the image of the racist state. I feel sorry for the Spaniards who do not agree with me, but today in Brazil Spain has become known as a country of racists.”
“I am strong and I will go all the way to fight racists, even if the road is long,” he said.
La Liga said it would request all available footage to investigate the incident.
“If we identify any hate crime, we will take appropriate legal action,” she added in a statement, according to Reuters.
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