Spanish police have detained three people in relation to racism directed at Brazilian star Vinicius Junior on Sunday, as per Marca.
The police identified and detained three people on Tuesday, after an investigation was opened on Monday. Vinicius pointed out people abusing him racially in the crowd on Sunday night at Mestalla during Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss to Valencia.
Vinicius has asked La Liga and the RFEF to get more serious about tackling racism and handing out punishments. On Tuesday morning, it was announced that the police had arrested four people in connection with an effigy of Vinicius jung from a motorway in January, before arresting three people in the afternoon to with the events in the afternoon.
⚠️ÚLTIMA HORA⚠️
La @policia ha detenido hoy en #Valencia a 3 jóvenes por las conductas racistas ocurridas el pasado domingo en el encuentro entre el #ValenciaCF y el #RealMadrid
STOP #delitosdeodio pic.twitter.com/gKrJuuG7ZX
— Policía Nacional (@policia) May 23, 2023
Those three have been released from custody after the police took statements from all three, but have warned that they may be called into court should they be charged with a hate crime. The local government delegate Pilar Bernabe has asked for the investigation to be allowed to run its course.
Since, Cadena Cope have explained that all three are under suspicion of crimes against human rights. Valencia have issued a second statement on the matter, confirming that they helped identify the three youngsters in question – between 18 and 21 years of age – but did also maintain that the stadium as a whole was not singing racial abuse at Vinicius.
At this point, dealing with the tenth incident of this type, the concerning thing is the consistency with which this is occurring. While the police appear to be taking more action, whether the justice department follow through prosecutions and harsher punishments will be the true test of whether a shift has taken place.
