3 arrested in Valencia for racism against Vinicius

Three people were arrested on suspicion of racially abusing Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior during a La Liga match against Valencia, local police said Tuesday.

“Three young men were arrested today in Valencia for racist behavior that occurred Sunday during the Valencia-Real Madrid match,” the police, who opened an investigation after the abuse sparked a wave of indignation in the country and abroad, said in a statement.

Sunday’s match was stopped for several minutes and the referee wrote in his report after the final whistle that the “monkey” shouts were 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.

And the police said earlier on Tuesday that they had arrested four men suspected of hanging a Vinicius Junior doll from a highway bridge near the Real Madrid training ground on January 26, before the derby match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

She also held up a red and white banner for Atlético that read “Madrid hates Real”.

And the local police said in a separate statement that the four men arrested in Madrid were “suspected of committing a hate crime because of hanging a doll with Vinicius’ shirt from a bridge.”