Vinicius´ criticism of anti-racism work ´unfair´, says LaLiga president Tebas

LaLiga president Javier Tebas labelled Vinicius Junior’s criticism of the league’s anti-racism work “unfair” after the Real Madrid winger vented his frustration on social media.

Madrid beat Real Valladolid 2-0 at the Jose Zorrilla on Friday, but the match was marred for Vinicius.

The Brazil international wrote on Instagram the following day that “racists continue to go to the stadiums and see the best club in the world up close, and LaLiga continues to do nothing”.

Vinicius was substituted during the match and almost hit by several objects thrown from the stands as he walked behind one of the goals, with fans appearing to direct racist chants at him.

Tebas rejected Vinicius’ claim that LaLiga is doing nothing to drive racists out of the sport, however.

A @laliga
combate o RACISMO há anos.@vinijr é injusto e não é verdade publicar que
“@laliga não faz nada contra o racismo”, se informe melhor. Estamos à sua disposição para que TODOS JUNTOS, possamos caminhar na mesma direção. https://t.co/60US2GxMbJ

— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) December 31, 2022

“At LaLiga we have been fighting racism for years,” Tebas tweeted. “Vinicius Junior, it is unfair and not true to publish that ‘LaLiga does nothing against racism’.

“Find out more. We are at your disposal so that all together we can go in the same direction.”

Also included in the tweet from Tebas was the link to a LaLiga statement that insisted the incidents in Valladolid will be reported to the hate crimes prosecutors’ office; additionally, it documented previous instances of complaints being filed with legal authorities, in an attempt to disprove Vinicius’ criticism.

“Before the publication of Vinicius Jr, a Real Madrid player, on his social networks making a comment in which he alludes to the lack of action measures by LaLiga in the fight against racism, LaLiga has detected racist insults from someone from the stands of the Zorrilla stadium, [which were] published on social networks,” the statement began.

“These events will be reported to the anti-violence commission and the hate crimes prosecutor’s office, as has been done on other occasions in which LaLiga, after investigating racist behaviour inside and outside the stadiums, has led the fight against this type of act.”