It’s the fourth court sentencing in a year related to racial abuse and threats directed at the Real Madrid footballer.
Four people have been handed suspended jail sentences of between 14 and 22 months by a Madrid court after being found guilty of a hate crime related to an effigy of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, Spain’s La Liga has said.
“The defendant who posted the video online received a special disqualification from working in education, sports, or recreational youth settings for four years and three months, while the others received three years and seven months,” a La Liga statement said on Monday.
They were all involved in hanging a banner reading “Madrid hates Real” and an inflatable black effigy in a replica of the Brazilian’s number 20 T-shirt on a bridge before a Copa del Rey match against Atletico Madrid in January 2023.
According to the ruling, one defendant was sentenced to 15 months in prison for a hate crime and an additional seven months for making threats, having distributed images of the act online. The other three were sentenced to seven months in prison for hate crimes and seven months for threats.
They will not serve prison time, however, after all four signed a letter of apology to Vinicius, Real Madrid, La Liga and the Spanish football federation (RFEF).
The first defendant was also fined 1,084 euros ($1,257) and the other three 720 euros ($835), with additional punishments including a 1km (0.6 miles) restraining order from Vinicius, his home and workplace, and a ban on approaching football stadiums during La Liga or RFEF matches.
They will all be required to participate in an educational programme on equal treatment and non-discrimination for the prison sentences imposed to be suspended.
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There was no immediate confirmation from the court and no immediate reaction from Vinicius, who is currently playing in the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Victim of repeated racial abuse
La Liga has filed complaints about various incidents of racial abuse and threats against the Brazilian international in recent years.
On June 10, 2024, three Valencia football fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for hate crimes directed against Vinicius in May 2023 in what was the first conviction for racist insults in a football stadium in Spain.
Last September, a Spanish court sentenced a Mallorca fan who racially abused Vinicius in February 2023, and former Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze a week later, to a year in prison and issued a three-year stadium ban.
Last month, five people were handed 12-month suspended prison sentences and fines for racially abusing the Real Madrid forward during a December 2022 match in a landmark first ruling in Spain to condemn racist insults in a football stadium as a hate crime.