Valencia punishment for Vinicius Junior racist abuse reduced

Valencia’s punishment for their fans’ racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was reduced on Friday after the La Liga side appealed against it.

The Spanish side must close the south stand of their Mestalla stadium for three home matches instead of the five-game ban initially set by the Spanish football federation’s Competition Committee on Wednesday.

The fine was also reduced from 45,000 euros to 27,000 euros ($29,000) by the federation’s appeal committee.

Valencia host Espanyol on Sunday in La Liga in a vital match with both teams battling relegation, in which the stand will be closed.

Three Valencia fans were arrested after the 22-year-old Brazilian winger was abused last Sunday during Los Che’s 1-0 win over Madrid.

Sports stars and other personalities across the globe have offered Vinicius Junior their support in the days since, including many in his homeland Brazil.

Earlier this week, Spanish police arrested seven people Tuesday over two incidents of racial abuse targeting Real Madrid’s Brazilian star Vinicius Junior, including the latest one that sparked an international outcry.

The player was taunted by opposition fans since he joined Real in 2018 but the latest incident has kicked up a storm over whether Spain is doing enough to stamp out racism in football.

Early on Tuesday, police confirmed arresting three youths in Valencia for “insults and gestures with racist overtones” towards the player that amounted to “an alleged hate crime” during Sunday’s match.

The game was held up for several minutes and the referee wrote in his post-match report that shouts of “monkey” had been directed at Vinicius.

Police said the investigation remained open to identify further suspects.

In a statement, Valencia confirmed three fans had been arrested, reiterating its “strongest condemnation against racism and violence” and saying the club was acting against those involved “by banning them for life from our stadium”.

Also Tuesday, Madrid police arrested another four men suspected of hanging an effigy wearing a Real Madrid shirt with Vinicius’ number on it from a bridge in January.

The dummy was hung by the neck from a highway bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground on January 26 ahead of their match against Atletico Madrid.

Above it was a banner in Atletico’s red and white reading: “Madrid hates Real”.

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