The arrest of three juveniles on Tuesday by Spanish police on suspicion of throwing racial comments at Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior during a match over the weekend has prompted a response from authorities throughout the world.
On Sunday, the Brazilian international attacker, who is 22 years old, was attacked by a home supporter during his team’s 1-0 loss at Valencia. The supporter was eventually taken to the stands.
During this current season in Spain, he has frequently been the target of racial slurs at several venues.
“Police arrested three young people in Valencia today for the racist behavior that occurred Sunday in the match between Valencia and Real Madrid,” Spain’s National Police stated in a statement. “The incident occurred during the match between Valencia and Real Madrid.”
The game that was played on Sunday was stopped for a number of minutes, and the referee noted in his post-game report that cries of “monkey” had been directed at Vinicius during that time.
The event, which was criticized by both the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is the subject of an inquiry that has been started by Spanish authorities.
Earlier on Tuesday, the police said that they had detained four individuals who they believe were responsible for hanging a dummy of Real Madrid striker Vinicius Junior from a bridge in Madrid in the month of January.
According to a second statement released by the Madrid police, the four males who were detained there are “suspected of committing a hate crime for hanging from a bridge a mannequin with Vinicius’ shirt,” which is what the police claimed.
On January 26, only a few hours before Real Madrid’s match against Atletico Madrid, a dummy decked out in Vinicius Junior’s jersey was strung out from a highway bridge in the area of the club’s training facility using a neck rope.
A flag in the colors of Atletico — red and white — with the words “Madrid hates Real” written across it was also hurled over the bridge.