LaLiga will report racist chanting aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior by Atletico Madrid fans before Sunday’s derby, the league confirmed to ESPN.
Hundreds of Atletico supporters were filmed singing “Vinicius, you are a monkey” outside of the Metropolitano stadium before the game, which Madrid won 2-1.
A LaLiga spokesperson told ESPN that the league would be filing an official complaint with the Anti-violence Commission and the Spanish football federation (RFEF)’s Competition Committee regarding the events inside and outside the stadium on Sunday.
“Hate speech has no place in LaLiga and we always work with the clubs and the authorities to identify and bring to justice any such case,” a spokesperson said.
“We denounce all incidents inside and outside stadiums and work with clubs to keep our football friendly and enjoyable.”
LaLiga files a weekly formal complaint listing fan chants from that weekend’s games which incite violence or contain insulting or intolerant language, and assists with any subsequent investigation.
The league has previously reported racist chanting aimed at Vinicius in Madrid’s El Clasico clash with Barcelona in October 2021, and when following a match at Mallorca in March this year.
Vinicius and Madrid both released statements ahead of the derby condemning racist abuse of the Brazil international after a guest on a Spanish TV show said he should “stop monkeying around” by dancing to celebrate scoring goals.
Vinicius and teammate Rodrygo both reacted to Madrid’s opening goal in the game with Atletico, scored by Rodrygo in the 18th minute, by dancing in front of the home fans.
Vinicius’ run and shot against the post later set up Federico Valverde to put Madrid 2-0 up, before Mario Hermoso scored late on for Atletico.
The result meant Madrid remain top of LaLiga with six wins out of six so far this season.
