The Provincial Court of Seville has ordered to reopen the investigation against a man for throwing racist insults at Real Madrid footballer, Vinicius Júnior, during the match played on March 5, 2023 at the Benito Villamarín Stadium between Real Betis and the white club. The magistrates consider the appeal presented by the National Professional Football League against the dismissal of the case that the investigating court agreed to in June of this year.
“The investigation of the facts must continue and depending on the result of the evidence and with full knowledge of the facts, the court will decide whether or not they constitute a crime,” states the order issued on October 14. The complaint indicated how at different moments of the match a “minority” group of fans who were in the Gol Sur stands of the stadium – where the Real Betis ultras are located – shouted “UUU” and “monkey, you are a monkey, you are a monkey.” Photographs of one of them were provided in the writing.
The Police took a statement from that person and was informed that he was being investigated for a hate crime. Vinicius was also cited as being offended by the crime. “However, in a resolution with very brief motivation” the judge “agrees to the provisional dismissal of the case because in the opinion of the investigator it is not possible to know who or who may have been the author or authors of the crime and facts investigated,” indicates the order of the Provincial Court.
The magistrates consider that the closure of the case is “premature” and urge that the case be reopened and the identification parade test of the investigated person that the Prosecutor’s Office had requested be carried out.
Last September, a court in Palma de Mallorca sentenced a man who made racist comments to Real Madrid and Villareal footballers, Vinicius and Samu Chukwueze respectively, to one year in prison and three years of banning access to stadiums, respectively, in two different matches at the Son Moix Stadium against Mallorca. Months earlier, another judge in Valencia imposed eight months in prison and a two-year ban on entry to sports venues on three other people who insulted the Brazilian striker in another match between Valencia and the white club at Mestalla on May 21, 2023.
Another man was sentenced to eight months in prison for making racist comments against Vinicius in a sports newspaper forum Brand.
