'La Liga belongs to racists' say Real Madrid star forward, manager

Some utterly disgusting scenes were witnessed on Sunday evening in the La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Valencia. The Mestalla stadium was obviously filled with home fans, but instead of simply showing their full support for their team, many were also openly hurling racist abuse particularly towards visiting player Vinicius Jr.

The "monkey chants" became clearly audible inside the stadium within the opening 20 minutes, and the abuse continued throughout the match. Everything eventually came to a head when the young Brazilian was sent off with a red card after he clashed with Valencia player Hugo Duro during an altercation in the penalty area.

VAR slammed for biased review of red card incident

The altercation began when Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili attacked Vinicius on the pitch. Both players were restrained by the other players from both teams, but Duro decided to go to the extreme by locking Vinicius in a headlock for about ten seconds. He was seen choking the Real Madrid player by the neck before other players forced him to release the Brazilian.

It was at this point that Vinicius looked back to see who was choking him, and he swung his arm around to wave Duro away. However, the Valencia player decided to go for a dramatic reaction by clutching his face and falling to the ground after Vinicius barely touched him. The referee then decided to send Vinicius off while turning a blind eye to the initial attack by Mamardashvili and Duro's choke hold.

Even Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand was in complete disbelief after seeing what happened and the referee's decision. He took to social media to call out the decision, saying, "Who is protecting Vinicius Jr in Spain? 'He receives a red card after bein choked and receiving racial abuse during the game...wtf."

Apart from the altercation, the racist abuse at the stadium was so disruptive that the game had to be stopped for several minutes. Various announcements were made over the loudspeakers, warning fans to stop hurling racist insults at the players or risk being ejected and banned. it is unclear if anyone was punished for the appalling scenes at the Mestalla. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Vinicius and many other players have been subjected to the same kind of abuse.

Vinicius speaks out against La Liga

The 22-year-old winger saw his career blossom massively in the past 2-3 seasons. This has put him in the spotlight, but he has unfortunately been subjected to an outrageous level of abuse both online and during live matches.

He has spoken up numerous times about the situation, but the latest incident at Valencia's stadium has resulted in the game being stopped for several minutes when the home fans were calling him "monkey" in unison. The night ended in disaster for Vini Jr. after he was sent off with the first red card of his career.

In the aftermath, he took to social media to vent his frustration against La Liga. "It wasn't the first time, not the second and not the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it's normal, so does the Federation and the opponents encourage it," he said.

He went on to say that the Spanish league "belongs to the racists," before adding he is now unable to deny that he is living in a racist country. He praised Spain for welcoming him as he made it his second home after signing for Real Madrid, but the racist incidents can't be denied and he feels that it has tarnished the country's reputation.

"Sorry for the Spaniards who do not agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately with everything that happens on a weekly basis, I have no way to defend," he said.

Like Ferdinand, Vinicius thinks that racism is not being handled effectively by La Liga and Spanish authorities. Manager Carlo Ancelotti and several Real Madrid players also expressed their disgust over what happened on Sunday.

The Italian said that he wanted to stop the game after the whole stadium called his player a racial slur. He is calling on La Liga to reevaluate the protocols when it comes to dealing with racial abuse during matches.