They reduce the sanction of Valencia for the racist abuse of Vinicius Jr.

Valencia’s punishment for fans’ racist abuse of Real Madrid striker Vinicius Junior was reduced on Friday after the La Liga team appealed against him.

The Spanish side must close the south stand of their Mestalla stadium for three home games instead of the five-game ban initially set by the Spanish soccer federation’s Competition Committee on Wednesday.

The fine was also reduced from 45,000 euros to 27,000 euros ($29,000) by the federation’s appeal committee.

Valencia receives Espanyol on Sunday in LaLiga in a vital game with both teams fighting for relegation, in which the stands will be closed.

Three Valencia fans were arrested after the 22-year-old Brazilian winger was abused last Sunday during Los Che’s 1-0 win over Madrid.

Since then, sports stars and other personalities from around the world have offered their support to Vinicius, including many in his homeland of Brazil.

Those of Vinícius Jr have unleashed a heated debate in Spain about tolerance of racism in a society that is increasingly diverse on and off the pitch.

Since the season began in August, the Real Madrid winger has suffered racist abuse from fans of at least five rival teams, including the fact that a group of Atlético de Madrid fans hung an effigy of the black player on a bridge. in january.

“Racism is normal in LaLiga,” Vinícius said of Spain’s top soccer league on Instagram and Twitter after Valencia fans attacked him with monkey chants at a game on Sunday. “The competition thinks it’s normal, as does the federation, and the opponents encourage it.”

Through his presence on social media, Vinícius has repeatedly denounced the racist attitudes that he says are prevalent in a southern European country where now a third of children are born to foreign parents, the majority from Latin America and Africa. , and society as a whole is increasingly racially diverse.

With Valencia’s cooperation, police arrested three people suspected of a hate crime for their alleged abuse of the Brazilian on Sunday, and all were banned from the stadium for life. The club said that was the maximum penalty it could impose.

“Punishing fans who were not involved in these unfortunate events is a completely disproportionate, unfair and unprecedented measure,” Valencia said. “We will fight against it until the end.”

The three people spoke to the police and have been released while the investigation against them continues. Four other people were arrested in Madrid after being accused of hanging an effigy of Vinícius on a road bridge in January. They are expected to testify before a judge who will then decide whether to proceed with the case.

Fans have been fined and penalized before for assaulting Vinícius, but so far no one in Spain has ever gone to trial on criminal charges for racially abusing a player.

Spain created a specific law against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport in 2007, and since then an anti-violence commission made up of various entities has been in charge of monitoring and reporting cases that may violate the law.

But the law establishes that not all cases of racism can be penalized, but only those in which there is an extra element that affects the victim. Most cases, including many similar to those involving fans in Valencia, end up falling into a category where punishment only includes fines and stadium bans.

(With contributions from Agencies)