ERADICATING RACISM IN SPORTS: A MUST

The minor who directed racial slurs at Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr during a match against Rayo Vallecano last season has been penalized with a one-year ban from stadiums and a fine, the club reported on Friday, November 29.

The LaLi­ga cham­pi­ons dis­closed that the minor con­fessed to the offense, issued a writ­ten apol­o­gy, and accept­ed the sanc­tions from the Juve­nile Pros­e­cu­tor’s Office. Fur­ther­more, the State Com­mis­sion against Vio­lence, Racism, Xeno­pho­bia, and Intol­er­ance in Sport levied an undis­closed fine.

Real Madrid’s state­ment read, “The minor who racial­ly insult­ed Vini­cius Junior has apol­o­gized and shown remorse in a let­ter.” As part of an out-of-court agree­ment, the minor will engage in socio-edu­ca­tion­al activ­i­ties rec­om­mend­ed by the Juve­nile Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tor’s Office and will be barred from attend­ing offi­cial com­pe­ti­tions for a year.

The club also high­light­ed that since June, four inci­dents of racism involv­ing its play­ers have been resolved through either the courts or juve­nile author­i­ties. The minor who racial­ly abused mid­field­er Aure­lien Tchoua­meni in April was sim­i­lar­ly banned from sta­di­ums for a year. Anoth­er fan found guilty of racial­ly abus­ing Vini­cius Jr and Vil­lar­real’s Samuel Chuk­wueze dur­ing two match­es in Mal­lor­ca last year received a sus­pend­ed prison sen­tence.

This case high­lights the urgent need to elim­i­nate racism in sports and beyond, pro­mot­ing a cul­ture of respect and equal­i­ty for every­one.