AIn response to incidents of racism in football and in particular the recent hostilities against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, World Association President Gianni Infantino has called for tough legal action. “We must file criminal charges against racists – because racism is a crime! And racists must be criminally convicted,” wrote the FIFA boss on Instagram. In addition, he wanted to introduce a “worldwide stadium ban for racists”.
The 53-year-old also emphasized the implementation of a three-stage process when racist incidents occur: first interrupt the game, then interrupt it again and finally stop it if the derailments continue. The game will then be scored against the team whose supporters are responsible for the racism. At the same time, Infantino spoke out in favor of targeted education in schools in order to fight racism at its roots.
arrests in Spain
In the course of the racist hostilities against Brazil’s soccer star Vinicius Junior, the Spanish police arrested a total of seven people on Tuesday. According to the authorities, three teenagers have been taken into custody in Valencia, they are suspected of having racially insulted the Real Madrid attacker on Sunday.
Meanwhile, four other people were taken into custody by Spanish police as part of an investigation into a doll wearing the jersey of Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior that was hung up in January. The arrests in Madrid came two days after repeated racist hostilities against the Brazilian at a league game, which also sparked international outrage. As the authorities announced on Tuesday, the people have to answer for a “hate crime”. Three of those arrested are “active members of an ultra group of fans of a Madrid club,” the police said.
The brown inflatable doll was found hanging on a bridge near the record champions’ training ground on January 26. Next to it was a banner with the slogan “Madrid hates Real” used by Atletico-Ultras. Later that day, Los Blancos won the city derby in the cup quarter-finals against Atletico 3-1.
Real lost 1-0 at FC Valencia last Sunday. The encounter was overshadowed by racist chants against Vinicius by supporters of the hosts. The 22-year-old then received solidarity from sport, politics and society.
