FOUR people have been arrested on suspicion of hanging a mannequin in a Vinicius Junior shirt from a bridge near the Real Madrid training ground.
The Los Blancos star, 22, was subjected to vile racist abuse in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Valencia.
Vinicius Junior was targeted with racist abuse in Sunday’s defeat at ValenciaGetty
And Spanish national police took to Twitter to confirm the latest developments following the incident in January.
The account posted on Tuesday morning: “Four people arrested in Madrid who allegedly hung a mannequin with the Vinicius shirt on a bridge near the Ciudad Deportiva del @realmadrid #hatecrimes.”
The effigy of the Brazilian winger was hung from a bridge ahead of the Madrid derby against Atletico – four months after he was subjected to monkey chants by Atleti fans.
Vinicius was on the verge of tears during Sunday’s defeat as he pointed out members of the crowd who were targeting him to the referee.
The match was stopped for nine minutes as the player and referee also spoke with Carlo Ancelotti.
Vinicius was later sent off after a controversial VAR review for striking Hugo Duro, who escaped without punishment despite grabbing the Brazil star around the neck.
The Real winger – who responded to racist abuse in March 2022 by dancing in front of Mallorca fans – sarcastically applauded and gave a peace sign to the home crowd as he left the field.
The Champions League winner and two-time LaLiga champ launched a furious response on Twitter – labelling Spain “a country of racists”.
Vinicius said: “It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third.
“Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the Federation does too and the opponents encourage it.
“I’m so sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists.
“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world.
“I’m sorry for the Spaniards who don’t agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.
“And unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no defence. I agree. But I am strong and I will go to the end against racists. Even if far from here.”
Real Madrid later published an angry statement condemning the lack of “decisiveness” among referees in Spain and the “inaction” of the Spanish FA.
Ancelotti added: “You can’t play football like this.
“This is too serious, they throw a ball on the field, they insult Vinicius all the time, and they take the red card from him.
“What are we talking about? We are in 2023, there can be no racism We have to go home.”
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