Spanish club Valencia on Monday said they filed a lawsuit against Netflix claiming falsehoods in a documentary about Brazilian player Vinicius Junior.
Valencia said the documentary mistakenly accused a large group of Valencia fans of making racist chants against the Real Madrid forward in a Spanish La Liga match in 2023.
The club filed the lawsuit after their public demands for corrections by the documentary’s production company were not fulfilled.
Photo: Reuters
The lawsuit is against Netflix and the production company for damaging “Valencia’s honor.” It seeks financial compensation, corrections of the subtitles in the documentary, and the publication of the sentencing, the club said.
Valencia first threatened the lawsuit this year. At the time, Vinicius’ representatives said the player would not get involved, because the demand was against Netflix and the producers of the documentary.
A request for comment sent to Netflix was not immediately answered.
The documentary includes a social media video showing what appeared to be a large crowd at Mestalla Stadium chanting at Vinicius. The video has the word mono, Spanish for “monkey,” in the subtitles, but Valencia claim the fans were actually chanting tonto, which is Spanish for “silly.”
Then-Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was quick to accuse the Valencia fans of racially insulting Vinicius, but later apologized after saying he realized it was not the entire stadium chanting the word “monkey.”
There were fans who did racially abuse Vinicius during that match. Three of them became the first fans to be convicted in racism-related cases in professional soccer in Spain. They were handed eight-month prison sentences.
During their trial, experts showed that the video with the subtitles “monkey” was edited and did not correspond to reality, Spanish media said.
Vinicius, who was repeatedly subjected to racist insults in Spain, was in tears during that 2023 match against Valencia. He confronted a Valencia fan who called him a monkey and made monkey gestures from the stands behind one of the goals.
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