Vinicius Junior’s ejection has been revoked.
Spain’s Marca reported on Thursday (June 24), “The match committee has decided to annul Vinicius’ sending off against Valencia. After a long discussion, we have made an unprecedented decision. The referee at the time gave Vinicius a red card for hitting Hugo Duro when he didn’t have the ball, but the committee pointed out that this was not a valid reason.”
“The video assistant referee (VAR) was partial and biased. It was an error in judgment and an unfair sending off. The player who was fouled was changed to the player who committed the foul.” As a result, Vinicius’ suspension was overturned and he will be eligible to play in the next match.
The Vinicius case is shaking up the Spanish soccer world. The incident occurred against Valencia. After a series of bad calls throughout the game, Vinicius exploded when some Valencia fans repeatedly shouted racial slurs at him. Vinicius became extremely agitated and an argument ensued for a while. Some fans even threw trash at him.
Valencia captain José Gaya intervened, and eventually, his Real teammates came over to mediate the situation. Once the dust settled, there were still chants of “monkey” at Vinicius. It was a clear racial slur, and it came from all over the Valencia stadium. Under intense scrutiny, Vinicius kept his cool and played on, but he exploded in late stoppage time.
Giorgi Mamardashvili made a save in a Real attack and a corner was awarded. At this point, a nervous battle ensued as Valencia refused to give Real the ball, and once again, Vinicius was at the center of it.
He argued with Mamardashvili and even got into a fight with Hugo Duro. The video assistant referee (VAR) confirmed that he hit Duro in the face, and the referee awarded Vinicius a direct free kick. As he left the field, the Valencia fans continued to shout racial slurs at him.
Vinicius raised two fingers and pointed downward. He wanted Valencia to be relegated to the second division. Lucas Vazquez stopped him, but he repeated the behavior on his way out, and the Valencia staff on the bench protested, leading to another clash. The game ended in a 1-0 victory for Valencia.
Vinicius posted on social media, “Racists were rewarded with me being sent off. This is not soccer, this is La Liga,” he wrote on social media. “I don’t know how many times (this has happened). Racism is a daily occurrence in La Liga. La Liga and the association think it’s normal and encourage it. It breaks my heart,” he said.
“La Liga is the league where Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi played. This is a league that allows racism. Spain is a beautiful country, a country that welcomed me, a country I love. But they seem to be in favor of racism. Of course, there are Spaniards who don’t accept it. I feel sorry for them, but in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. I agree with that perception. It happens every week,” he said.스포츠토토
The incident went viral, with Spanish La Liga president Javier Tebas, a La Liga TV commentator, and a Valencia spokesman criticizing Vinicius. His colleagues at Real and other clubs with ties to Vinicius showed their support. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) dismissed the VAR referees who had sent off Vinicius, and the match committee backed Vinicius by rescinding the sending off.
Now that the referees have been sacked and the ban reversed, and Valencia is calling out the racists, the debate over Vinicius is still ongoing. The person who gets hurt in this process is Vinicius, who stands alone without any protection.