A Spanish court has found an individual guilty of racially abusing Real Madrid players Vinicius Junior and Antonio Rudiger online.
The defendant was ordered to serve an eight-month prison sentence, which was suspended on the condition of their participation in a programme of equal treatment and non-discrimination.
The individual was also banned from participating in the online comments section of Spanish media outlet Marca, where he made the derogatory comments about Vinicius Jr and Rudiger under various pseudonyms, for 20 months.
The defendant was found guilty of “directing serious racist attacks and insults” against the two players, which were both judged to have “racist motivations” and in the case of Rudiger, “also in contempt of his religion”.
The verdict was reached in the court of Parla, a municipality in the Community of Madrid.
Madrid confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that they had acted as a private prosecutor in the proceedings alongside Vinicius in the case, adding that they would “continue to work to protect the values of our club and to eradicate any racist behaviour in the world of football and sport”.
Madrid also thanked the supporter who alerted the club to the online comments.
(Flor Tan Jun/Getty Images)
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