in Madrid, an Atlético-Real derby under the threat of racist cries from the stands

Will we see on Sunday, at the stroke of 9 p.m., in the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, during the Atlético-Real derby, masked spectators in the stands in order, thus “protected”, to be able to insult, without fear to be identified, some of the players present on the pitch? And especially Vinicius Junior, one of Real’s stars?

At the end of the week, several Spanish newspapers, including the daily Sportrecounted how a call to this effect, relayed through the keyword #MetropolitanoConMascarilla (“MetropolitanoConMascarilla”) on the social network X, was launched, ahead of the eighth day of the championship, by supporters of Atlético de Madrid.

This initiative is not trivial. It comes as a Mallorca supporter was sentenced on September 26 to twelve months in prison and a three-year stadium ban. In February 2023, he launched racist insults against Vinicius Junior, but also against ex-Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze.

« The suspended prison sentence was conditional on the participation of the defendant, who apologized and expressed his remorse in a letter addressed to Vinicius Junior, in an equal treatment and non-discrimination program », Wrote the Madrid club in a press release. He added that a minor, who had insulted French international Aurélien Tchouaméni during the Mallorca-Real Madrid match on April 13, had also been banned from the stadium for a year and subject to financial sanctions. “He apologized and repented of his behavior, and agreed to carry out the socio-educational activities proposed by the public prosecutor of the juvenile court,” raised the club.

Three criminal convictions

The court decision made official on September 26 brings to three the number of criminal convictions handed down in recent months for racist insults against Real Madrid players, according to the club. Only incidents where the accused were clearly identified resulted in sanctions. “This is the result of the work we have done in recent years to eradicate hatred from our football and we will continue to do so. There will be no racist shouts or chants in a stadium without a criminal conviction”congratulated himself, https://twitter.com/Tebasjavier/status/1839287205711225167Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, the body that oversees Spanish clubs and the championship.

On June 10, three Valencia supporters were sentenced to eight months in prison for having uttered racist insults targeting Vinicius Junior in May 2023, in their club’s stadium – itself punished with a fine of 45,000 euros. At the time of these incidents, during the 2022-2023 season, nine complaints had been filed with the courts for similar facts targeting the Brazilian striker, and two had resulted in sanctions (withdrawal of the subscription for a supporter, fine for another).

Brazilian President Lula protested against the persistence of racist prejudices “ in so many stadiums “. Vinicius Junior had received the support of multiple heavyweights in sport, including that of his compatriot Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and his Italian coach https://twitter.com/MrAncelotti/status/1660380171709427712. « Racism is normal in La Liga, had meanwhile denounced the 24-year-old player on his Instagram account. The competition considers it normal, the Federation does too and the rivals encourage it. I regret it. »

Leave the field

The president of La Liga, on the defensive, initially tried to reduce the phenomenon to individual and one-off cases. But he was contradicted by the impressive list of affected players, published by the Spanish press.

A poster campaign «Racists, outside of football» (“Racists, outside football”) was then developed with the Spanish football federation (RFEF), more concerned with resolving the problem.

These awareness campaigns did not prevent other incidents. To the point that, on August 28, Vinicius Junior, during an interview with the American television channel CNN, encouraged his counterparts to leave the field in the event of racist cries, indicating that the discussion on this subject was open in his own club.

In the Spanish championship, the referee has the possibility of suspending a match or not. In reality, this rule is very rarely applied: in Valencia, on May 21, 2023, the referee interrupted the match for a few minutes before restarting it and excluding… Vinicius Junior, for an altercation with another player.

« If things don’t change before 2030, the location of the World Cup should be changed “, also proposed the Real Madrid player. This suggestion aroused hostile reactions in Spain which, with Portugal and Morocco, must organize the World Cup in six years.

Paco Roig, former president of the Valencia club (1994-1997), even made racist comments in an interview given on September 22 to Relevo.com, a sports webzine – “ I call Real Madrid “Real immigrants” » –, accusing Vinicius of confabulating.

After the call to wear masks on Sunday evening by Atlético supporters, La Liga ended up reacting on Saturday. Recalling that this “ campaign constitutes an offense of incitement to hatred, clearly defined in the penal code”, the organization announced that it wanted “demand the immediate arrest of the instigators of a hate campaign which seeks to promote racist and vexatious acts”.