Latest Vinicius Junior racial abuse news: Arrests made over effigy, chants; VAR official dropped, per report
The fallout continues from Vinicius Junior facing torrents of racial abuse with arrests made in two separate incidents

During Real Madrid's 1-0 loss to Valencia, Brazillian winger Vinicius Junior was racially abused by fans in the stands causing the game to be stopped. While the match did get back underway, it was stopped again at which point Vini Jr's teammates got involved and it escalated to a physical altercation with Valencia's Hugo Duro where Vini Jr. was actually sent off due to referee Ricardo de Burgos failing to control the clash.
As part of the fallout due to the chants, the Federation of Spanish Soccer has announced that the Mario Kempes stand within Valencia's stadium will be closed for five games. The red card that Vinicus received will also be rescinded making him eligible to play in Real Madrid's match versus Rayo Vallecano.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti and Vini Jr. both called out La Liga having a racism problem following the match and plenty in the soccer community have also voiced their support to back the Brazilian star.
As of Tuesday, there are some consequences beginning to come down in relation with four people being arrested over a racist effigy of Vini Jr hung from a bridge in January and three more arrests related to the conduct in the stadium at Valencia, police announced, as well as a VAR official being dropped as punishment, according to a report from ESPN.
Referees dropped
The Spanish Football Association has removed video assistant referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva from Wednesday's game between Real Betis and Getafe, with a report suggesting it's as punishment for his role in sending Vini Jr. off with a red card. No official action has been taken against de Burgos at the moment but that's another one where more could happen during time.
Arrests for the effigy
Ahead of Real Madrid facing Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey in January, a banner with "Madrid hates Real" was displayed alongside a dummy that was hanged wearing Vinicus' Madrid kit. It was an escalation after Atletico Madrid fans were filmed directing racial abuse at Vini Jr. ahead of the league match between the two teams. While no charges were filed during the filming, there were four arrests made in regards to the effigy according to Spanish police.
The fallout from the chanting
From the Valencia math, three arrests have been made so far for racist abuse aimed at Vini Jr. During the match, he pointed out at least one fan involved but the identities of those arrested remain unknown.
Considering the depth of the involvement by fans, large action is still needed but La Liga has yet to take full scale action against what happened, instead opting to point out that there are only a small percentage of racists in their soccer.
A cada rodada fora de casa uma surpresa desagradável. E foram muitas nessa temporada. Desejos de morte, boneco enforcado, muitos gritos criminosos... Tudo registrado.
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) May 22, 2023
Mas o discurso sempre cai em “casos isolados”, “um torcedor”. Não, não são casos isolados. São episódios… pic.twitter.com/aSCMrt0CR8
But, based on the 10 incidents of Racism that Vini Jr has posted about, there are more than a few people involved and it's a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. Real Madrid has stated that they will pursue legal action but with some information coming from the league, there could be more.
The closure of a stand within Valancia's stadium is a start as the Mario Kempes stand will be closed for five games -- which will carry over to the beginning of next season -- and the club will also be fined €45,000 due to the racist abuse of Vinicius. Valencia will have 10 days to file an appeal to these actions.
















