Valencia are counting the cost of the damage that racism at Mestalla has caused them.
Three fans were arrested and fined following racial abuse towards Vinicius Junior in May, after the Brazilian pointed them out in the crowd.
After the match Carlo Ancelotti said the whole stadium was chanting monkey, something he later apologised for, but that was echoed by Rodrygo Goes in recent days. He too retracted his words the next day.
In both cases Valencia demanded that they do so. Due to the graphic nature of the incident, the repeated incidents across the league, and then the fact that Vinicius was later sent off, it became global news.
This has now cost Valencia, according to Relevo. Shirt sponsor Cazoo were keen to leave their two-year deal with Los Che as it was, where they provided €4m per season to show their name on the front of their kit. However Valencia had rejected their attempts to leave the deal, and won a court battle preventing Cazoo from terminating it. They demanded the full amount to be able to leave the deal.
That was before the racial abuse towards Vinicius, but somewhere within the contract, likely due to poor public relations or bad image, it gave Cazoo legal grounds to terminate the deal. The pair have ended up settling the exit at €1m, costing Valencia 75% of what they were due for the second season.
Valencia will feel harshly treated, given there were at least nine other racial incidents occurring in La Liga against Vinicius during the season. Indeed, Atletico Madrid fans have been involved in similar or worse on multiple occasions, but their sponsor seemingly has not looked to leave their deal early via that legal route. However few will feel sympathy for them in this case, given the general permissiveness of racial abuse in La Liga as a whole this season.
