Valencia: Vinicius Jr., a Brazilian forward for Real Madrid, accused La Liga and Spain of racism following racial slurs from spectators during Sunday's 1-0 loss at Valencia's Mestalla stadium.
After the game was stopped for ten minutes when Vinicius Jr pointed out the fans, he got into an altercation with Valencia's players that resulted in his dismissal early in the second half.
“Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition considers it normal, the federation considers it normal and the rivals encourage it,” Vinicius tweeted after the game, Reuters reported.
“The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Lionel) Messi today belongs to the racists.
“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which accepted to export to the world the image of a racist country. I am sorry for those Spaniards who disagree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.
“I am strong and I will go all the way against the racists. Even if it is far away from here,” he added.
In response to Vinicius Jr.'s remarks, La Liga president Javier Tebas urged him to acquire more knowledge about what may be done in cases of racism.
Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, also supported the Brazilian.
The president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, acknowledged that racism is an issue in the sport there.
“The first thing is to recognise that we have a problem in our country,” Rubiales said at a news conference in Madrid on Monday.
Hundreds of Valencia supporters were seen singing "Vinicius is a monkey" as the Real bus pulled up to the stadium before the game, according to videos shared on social media.
The Spanish ambassador was called before the Brazilian government on Monday to discuss the incident. There was little reaction from the Spanish authorities.
Following the event, Real Madrid announced that they had filed a hate crime report. According to La Liga, it is the tenth instance of suspected racism against Vinicius that has been reported to authorities this year.
Valencia earned a crucial 1-0 victory in the first half thanks to a goal from Diego Lopez. Real, with 71 points, is third.