Mallorca fan sentenced after racist abuse of Vinicius and Chukwueze

Year-long sentence for football fan who racially abused Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze.

A Mallorca fan who racially abused Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior and former Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze was sentenced to a year in prison and issued a three-year stadium ban on Thursday.

The supporter was “found guilty of two crimes against moral integrity, aggravated by the fact that he acted with racist motives”, Real Madrid said in a statement.

The abuse of Vinicius occurred during Real Madrid’s 1-0 La Liga defeat by Mallorca at their Son Moix Stadium in February 2023, before the same fan insulted Chukwueze, now at AC Milan, a fortnight later.

Real Madrid said the football fan’s prison sentence was suspended “after the defendant apologised and showed his remorse, with a letter addressed to Vinicius, having completed an equality and anti-discrimination programme”.

It is the third criminal conviction handed down in recent months for racist insults towards Real Madrid players, in particular Vinicius, who has been the victim of numerous similar instances of abuse in stadiums across the country since arriving in Spain in 2018.

In June, three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for racist insults directed at the Brazilian striker at their club’s stadium in May 2023.

Vinicius Junior scored Real Madrid’s second goal in the UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund in May 2024 [Justin Setterfield/Getty Images]

These incidents, which provoked a wave of international outrage, have sparked debate in Spain, where cases of racism have been frequent in football stadiums for decades.

Real Madrid also said another supporter of Mallorca, a minor who racially abused midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, had also been banned from stadiums for a year.

“[He has] apologised and shown remorse for his conduct, and he has agreed to complete socio-educational activities in the jurisdiction of minors as proposed by prosecutors,” added Real Madrid.

Earlier in September, Vinicius Junior called for Spain to be stripped of its 2030 World Cup hosting duties unless it makes progress on the issue of racism in stadiums.

On Sunday, Real Madrid will visit Atletico Madrid in a derby clash at the Metropolitano Stadium, where Vinicius has been the victim of racial abuse on several occasions.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies