Vinicius Jr. took to social media to criticise La Liga and its president, Javier Tebas, after he was racially harassed and issued a red card during Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Valencia.
Following the game, the Brazil international tweeted: “This was not the first, second, or third time. Racism is prevalent in La Liga. The competition believes it is normal, as does the federation, and the opponents encourage it.”
La Liga chief Javier Tebas replied with a Tweet saying: “Before criticising and insulting La Liga, you need to inform yourself properly VinÃcius,” to which the Real star responded: “Once again, instead of criticising racists, the president of La Liga appears on social media to attack me.”
Vinicius stopped Sunday’s match at one point to point out those in the crowd who he believed had been racially abusing him, before being ushered away by team-mates and spoken to by referee Ricardo de Burgos.
A fracas between the two sets of players deep into added time resulted in Vinicius being sent off in a La Liga game for the first time in his career, but Real head coach Carlo Ancelotti came out in full defence of his striker after the match: “The Spanish league has a problem and it’s not Vinicius. Vinicius is the victim. The problem is very grave.”
