Valenciennes have issued another statement regarding the racist incident with Vinicius Jr. The discipline handed down by the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) is also unacceptable.
The RFEF released a statement on Thursday (July 24) announcing the following punishments against Valencia. The club was fined 45,000 euros (approximately KRW 6,393 million) and closed the Mario Kempes area of the Mestalla stadium for five games.
Valencia immediately fired back. “The club wants to show that it completely disagrees and is outraged by the unreasonable and inappropriate punishment imposed on the club by the competition committee,” the club said in a statement two hours after REFE’s announcement, “We publicly condemn this decision, which contrasts with what La Liga and the national police say. Furthermore, the sanctions were based on evidence that the club did not have access to and there was no hearing process,” the club said.
The closure of the stands was particularly controversial. “It is completely unreasonable and unfair to punish all fans who were not involved in this unfortunate incident by preventing them from watching the game,” said Valencia, adding that the club will appeal the closure of parts of the stadium to the end.”
The Vinicius racism incident occurred during the 35th round of La Liga at Valencia’s home stadium, Mestalla, on April 22. During the match, Vinicius was racially abused by Valencia home fans. The home fans made monkey noises and shouted “Monkey!” as a direct racist attack. Vinicius immediately reacted angrily and became tearful. Coach Carlo Ancelotti criticized the racism in a strong tone after the game.
However, Valencia didn”t understand the gravity of the situation. Despite the fact that a large number of fans sang along with the racist chants, the club has only caught and punished three perpetrators, and they say that further censure and discipline is unacceptable.
Valencia spokesman Javier Solis said: “Carlo Ancelotti’s comments are completely wrong. He denigrated the entire crowd as perpetrators of racism. The club cannot tolerate this.” A later club statement added: “The perception has been created that all Valencia paddlers are racists. This is absolutely untrue. We ask for respect for our fans.” This time, the club reiterated its disapproval of the RFEF’s punishment.
By taking this step, Valencia are making things worse for themselves. A video has already gone viral on social media of a number of home fans chanting “Vinicius, you’re a monkey” at the stadium, but the club has maintained that it was the work of “some fans”.
This isn’t just a La Liga issue, it’s a Spain-wide issue. If Valencia cares about its image and its fans, it should quickly admit fault and take proactive steps to change public opinion. Otherwise, the stigma of being a racist club will be hard to erase.토토사이트
For now, Valencia will have to play their remaining home games without their supporters. They have one home game left, against Espanyol in Round 37. Their last win over Real took them to 40 points and opened up a five-point gap to the relegation zone, but they’re not guaranteed to stay up. Depending on the outcome of their remaining three games, they could be dramatically relegated. The growing racial tensions are bound to have a major impact on the remaining games.