Real Madrid’s Vinícius and LaLiga president Javier Tebas continue Twitter spat after Valencia racism incident

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has responded to Real Madrid attacker Vinícius’ accusations about the organisation’s lack of action regarding the racist insults he receives. The latest incident came in Sunday night’s defeat to Valencia at Mestalla, with the winger then sent off in injury time after an altercation with Hugo Duro.

Tebas initially responded to the Brazilian player in two tweets posted on his social media accounts: “We have tried to explain to you what LaLiga is and what it can do in cases of racism, but you have not shown up to either of the two agreed dates that you yourself requested. Before criticising and insulting LaLiga, you need to inform yourself properly Vinícius,” the head of LaLiga wrote on Sunday.

He added: “Don’t let yourself be manipulated and make sure you understand the work we have been doing together.”

Vinícius slams LaLiga

Previously, Vinícius had criticised LaLiga and Spanish football on Sunday evening after what had happened in Valencia earlier in the day, when the young forward was the victim of racist abuse.

Vinícius wrote: “The prize that the racists have won was my sending off. It’s not football, it’s LaLiga. It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition thinks it is normal, the federation thinks it is normal and the opponents encourage it.”

Vinicius accuses Tebas of attacking him

Vinícius was not prepared to let things lie after Tebas’ initial response. “Once again, instead of criticising the racists, the president of LaLiga takes to social media to attack me. No matter how much you talk and pretend not to read, it shows your competition in a bad light. Look at the responses to your posts and surprise yourself... Ignoring it only makes you the same as the racists. I am not your friend when it comes to racism. I want action and punishment. The hashtag doesn’t do it for me,” wrote the Brazilian on Twitter.

Tebas: “Neither Spain nor LaLiga is racist”

The back and forth continued on Monday morning, with Tebas going on to deny the winger’s accusations of racism aimed at Spain and LaLiga. “Neither Spain nor LaLiga is racist. It is very unfair to say that. At LaLiga, we do everything we possibly can to report and tackle racism. This season, there have been 9 reports of racist insults (8 of them directed at Vinicius). We always identify the culprits and file a complaint with the disciplinary bodies. It doesn’t matter if they are just a few; we are relentless. We cannot allow the image of a competition that is, above all, a symbol of unity among all people to be tarnished. More than 200 black players at 42 clubs are shown respect and affection from the fans on every matchday, and racism is extremely rare (9 cases) and something that we are going to eradicate,” he wrote on Twitter, retweeting Vinicius’ previous post.