La Liga will investigate chants aimed at Vinicius Junior from a group of Atletico Madrid fans ahead of their Copa del Rey match against Real Madrid on Thursday.
The Athletic recorded footage ahead of the game which showed a group of Atletico Madrid supporters chanting: “Vinicius, you are a monkey”.
The video was filmed directly after Real Madrid’s team bus passed through the car park outside Atletico Madrid’s Civitas Metropolitan Stadium.
La Liga are aware of the footage and are now investigating the incident.
Copa del Rey matches fall under the jurisdiction of the Spanish FA, but La Liga will use the footage as evidence ahead of denouncing the behaviour.
“Vinicius eres un mono”, canta la afición del Atlético antes de entrar al Metropolitano. @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/CA63uAZhpR
— Guillermo Rai (@GuillermoRai_) January 18, 2024
Vinicius Jr has been the victim of racist abuse in Spanish football stadiums over a prolonged period, with allegations of racism directed towards him at the most recent La Liga clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid in October.
The Brazil international was also subjected to racist abuse at the previous Clasico meeting in the league back in March 2023.
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The incident in Barcelona followed a similar incident the previous week when Sevilla ejected a fan from the stadium due to their display of “xenophobic and racist behaviour,” which appeared to be aimed at the winger.
Vinicius Jr later went on to praise Sevilla for taking action against the individual.
He has been repeatedly targeted with racist insults from opposition supporters in recent years and earlier this month testified in the trial of three Valencia fans who were accused of racially abusing him during a game in May last year at the Estadio Mestalla.
In December, four members of Frente Atletico — the radical group of Atletico Madrid fans — were charged by the Madrid prosecution service over the hanging of an effigy of Vinicius Jr from a bridge near the Real Madrid training ground in January 2023.
Hundreds of Atletico fans were filmed singing monkey chants ahead of a meeting between the sides in September 2022, four months before the two clubs met again in last season’s Copa del Rey.
Atletico Madrid and La Liga both condemned the hanging of the Vinicius Jr mannequin in January 2023, with Atletico labelling it “repugnant and inadmissible”.
(David Ramos/Getty Images)
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