Spanish police yesterday arrested four men suspected of hanging a dummy of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior from a bridge in January in Madrid, and detained three people suspected of hurling racist insults at him during a weekend match.
The arrests come amid an international outcry after racist abuse was hurled at the 22-year-old Brazilian international during a Spanish league match on Sunday.
The four men, who were arrested in Madrid, are “suspected of a hate crime for hanging from a bridge a mannequin with Vinicius’ shirt,” police said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
Three of the men are members of an group of a Madrid soccer fans who had been identified during matches as representing a high risk of violence.
While the authorities did not name the club they belonged to, Spanish media said they were part of a fan group associated with Atletico Madrid.
Police accompanied their statement with images of the suspects in handcuffs and escorted by officers.
The dummy wearing Vinicius’ jersey was hung by the neck from a highway bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground on January 26 ahead of the club’s match against Atletico.
A banner in the red and white colors of Atletico bearing the message “Madrid hates Real” was also draped over the bridge.
Spanish National Police also said in a statement that they “arrested today three young people in Valencia for the racist behavior that occurred Sunday in the match between Valencia and Real Madrid.”
Sunday’s match was held up for several minutes and the referee wrote in his post-match report that shouts of “monkey” had been directed at Vinicius.
Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation into the incident, which was condemned by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Real Madrid had filed a complaint “in order that the facts be investigated and those responsible be held accountable.”
The club said the chants, in its view, “constitute a hate crime.”
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi yesterday bowed out at the Malaysia Masters, defeated in the semi-finals a day after an epic quarter-final against the highest-ranked player left in the men’s singles draw. Lin lost to Weng Hongyang of China 21-13, 21-19 after a draining match against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka a day earlier in which the second game had 59 points. The 23-year-old left-hander had won his only previous BWF match against his Chinese opponent. However, Weng booked a place in today’s final after easing past the Taiwanese battler. He faces India’s H.S. Prannoy, who advanced when Indonesia’s Christian Adinata retired while trailing 19-17 in the
Kosovo Olympic authorities have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to open disciplinary proceedings against Novak Djokovic, accusing the Serb of stirring up political tension by saying “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” at the French Open. Djokovic wrote the message on a camera lens following his first-round win on Monday, the same day that 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were hurt in clashes with Serb protesters in the Kosovo town of Zvecan where Djokovic’s father grew up. “Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, center of the most important things for our country,” 36-year-old told Serbian media. Serbian authorities said 52 protesters were wounded
Unable to sleep the night before her first-round match at the French Open against second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine checked her phone at 5am on Sunday and saw disturbing news back home in Kyiv. At least one person was killed when the capital of Kostyuk’s nation was subjected to the largest drone attack by Russia since the start of the war, launched with an invasion assisted by Belarus in February last year. “It’s something I cannot describe, probably. I try to put my emotions aside any time I go out on court. I think I’m better than
China has long been the sleeping giant of men’s tennis, but on Monday the giant stirred as Shanghai trailblazer Zhang Zhizhen advanced to the second round of Roland Garros. One of three Chinese men in the draw, Zhang became the first from the nation to win a main draw match at Roland Garros in 86 years after Serbian opponent Dusan Lajovic retired due to illness when trailing 6-1, 4-1. Compatriots Shang Juncheng and Wu Yibing bowed out in defeat, but 26-year-old Zhang has a big chance to go further when he takes on Argentine qualifier Thiago Agustin Tirante for a place in