Three Valencia football fans have sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday for hate crimes against Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr, the first conviction for racist insults in a soccer stadium in Spain, the court announced.
“The ruling handed down today, which is final, establishes as proven that the three defendants insulted Vinicius with shouts, gestures and chants referring to the colour of his skin,” the court said in a statement.
“These shouts and gestures of a racist nature, consisting among other things in the repetition of the sounds and imitating the movements of monkeys, caused the footballer feelings of frustration, shame and humiliation, with the consequent undermining of his intrinsic dignity.”
In Spain, prison sentences of less than two years for non-violent crimes rarely require a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time so the three are likely to remain free unless they commit further offences.The three supporters, who pleaded guilty to the charges, were also banned from entering football stadiums for two years and ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings.
“This ruling is great news for the fight against racism in Spain as it repairs the damage suffered by Vinicius Jr and sends a clear message to those people who go to a football stadium to insult that LaLiga will identify them, report them and there will be criminal consequences for them,” LaLiga president Javier Tebas said.