Vinícius slams racist 'criminals' in Clásico loss

Vinícius Júnior has condemned racist insults aimed at Barcelona‘s players by fans during El Clásico as “terrible” after LaLiga said it was reporting the incident to police and hate crime prosecutors.

Video footage shared on social media appeared to show Lamine Yamal being insulted as he celebrated with teammates after scoring Barcelona’s third goal in the 4-0 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

“What happened yesterday at the Bernabéu with the racist insults was terrible,” Vinícius posted on X. “There’s no room for these criminals in our society.

“All my support to Lamine, Ansu [Fati] and Raphinha. I know that Madrid and the police will act to identify and punish the guilty!”

Earlier, LaLiga had described the racist abuse as “intolerable.”

“LaLiga will immediately report the racist insults and gestures aimed at Barcelona players to the National Police’s Hate Crime Group, as well as informing the Coordinating Hate Crimes Prosecutor with the Hate Crime and Discrimination Unit at the State Attorney General’s Office,” the league said in a statement.

“LaLiga strongly condemns the events that occurred at the Santiago Bernabéu and remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any type of racist behaviour and hatred inside and outside stadiums. There is no place for this scourge in sport.”

Madrid also condemned the abuse, saying an inquiry was underway.

“Real Madrid strongly condemns any kind of behaviour involving racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults made by a few fans last night in one of the corners of the stadium,” Madrid said in a statement.

“Real Madrid has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these regrettable and despicable insults, in order to take the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures.”

The Spanish government added that its commission responsible for fighting against violence, racism and other hate crimes in sport will meet on Monday to analyse events at the Bernabéu.

“The ‘Clásico’ is one of the world’s greatest spectacles, a true expression of the importance that soccer has in our country,” the government said. “During this game, or in any sporting event, there can never be any room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance.”

LaLiga has made a concerted effort to tackle racist abuse aimed at players by fans in recent years, with a number of high-profile cases involving Vinícius.

In June, three fans were found guilty of racially abusing Vinícius during a game at Valencia‘s Mestalla stadium in May 2023, in the first verdict of its kind in Spain.

Earlier this week, LaLiga held a conference — together with Madrid’s regional government — on tackling racism, prejudice and discrimination in football.

The league has called for legal reform to give it additional powers to deal directly with cases of racist abuse.

Saturday’s incident directed at Yamal took place as the winger celebrated scoring in Barcelona’s comprehensive 4-0 victory, in which Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha also scored.

The win put Barca six points clear at the top of the LaLiga table.