Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was subjected to racist abuse during the club's 1-0 La Liga defeat at Valencia's Mestalla stadium on Sunday.
The match was stopped for 10 minutes after fans called Vinicius Jr. a "monkey," per CBS Sports.
Following the loss, Real Madrid's manager, Carlo Ancelotti, spoke with Movistar TV to express his disdain for the crowd's treatment of Vinicius.
“What happened today cannot happen, that is pretty obvious. Shouting ‘monkey’ at a player, and a coach thinks of taking the player off, there is something bad happening in this league," Ancelotti said. “We have a problem, he does not have a problem. For me Vinicius is the greatest player in the world, the strongest. La Liga has a problem. With this racism, for me they have to stop the game. There is no other way."
Vinicius Jr. took to Twitter on Sunday to share his thoughts about the incident, as he called out the league for not doing enough to stop racism.
"It wasn't the first time, nor the second, nor the third," Vinicius wrote. "Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it's normal, the Federation does too and the opponents encourage it. I'm so sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists."
He continued, "A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world. I'm sorry for the Spaniards who don't agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no defense. I agree. But I am strong and I will go to the end against racists. Even if far from here."
On Monday, Vinicius Jr. shared a video showing the racist abuse he's endured in the past. As reported by ESPN, La Liga has received nine formal complaints over racist abuse from fans directed against Vinicius since he arrived in Spain five years ago.
La Liga has since announced the launch of an investigation into Sunday's events.
“In the face of the incidents which took place during Valencia CF vs Real Madrid CF in the Estadio de Mestalla, LaLiga wishes to inform that it has requested all the available images to investigate what happened,” the league said. “LaLiga will also investigate the images in which racist insults were allegedly uttered towards Vinicius Jr. outside of the grounds of Mestalla.”
