Real Madrid’s forward, Vinicius Junior, provided testimony on Thursday as a witness against three individuals who stand accused of racially abusing him during a Spanish league match last season.
The hearing was conducted in Valencia, but the Brazilian international gave his testimony remotely via video conference from Madrid.
Vinicius presented his testimony before a judge who was examining the evidence related to the fans accused of directing racial slurs at him during a game at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium on May 21.
Sources familiar with the matter, speaking to ESPN, indicated that Vinicius expressed feeling offended by the alleged racist insults that were directed towards him.
Vinicius, aged 23, acknowledged that he draws motivation when playing in an adversarial atmosphere where fans are against him, but he firmly asserted that racism should never be tolerated.
According to ESPN’s sources, the accused fans’ lawyers argued that Vinicius was called a monkey because he acted as a provocateur. In response, Vinicius contended that provocations are a part of sports but do not justify abuse, a viewpoint that found support from the magistrate overseeing the case.
In addition to Vinicius, the judge also mentioned Real Madrid and Brazil defender Éder Militão as a victim of racial abuse in the same incident.
The three fans facing accusations, all aged between 18 and 21, are charged with hate crimes.
Following the incident on May 21, Valencia permanently banned these three fans from their stadium.
On Thursday, Valencia CF demanded that Vinicius “publicly rectify” his alleged testimony. Reports suggest that he told the judge that the entire Mestalla stadium had yelled racist insults at him.
In response to this, the club released a statement expressing surprise, rejection, and indignation, emphasizing that the behavior of a few individuals cannot be generalized to the entire Mestalla stadium.
“Given the information published regarding the alleged statement given in court by the footballer Vinicius Jr. stating that the entire Mestalla stadium hurled racist insults at him in the match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid CF last season, the Club wishes to express its surprise, rejection and indignation,” a club statement said.
“As [Real Madrid] 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 fought with fallacies or unfounded lies… The Valencian fans cannot be classified as racist and Valencia CF demands that Vinicius Jr. publicly rectify his alleged statement this morning.”
Vinicius Junior
Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior
This season he played in total 5 times for 289 minutes for La Liga.
Vinicius Junior scored 1 goal for Real Madrid. He procured no assists. He received no yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 1st in La Liga. In the last match Real Madrid won 3-2 against Napoli. The next match in La Liga will be against Osasuna.
Real Madrid performance and stats
Real Madrid is currently 1st in the La Liga with 21 points.
In the last 8 games, it has won 7 times and lost once. In its last match, Real Madrid won 0-3 against Girona.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 16 goals and conceding 6.
Real Madrid will play the next match in La Liga against Osasuna on Saturday 7th of October in Madrid. The prediction is Real Madrid winning the match.