Football: four Atlético Madrid supporters arrested after hate campaign targeting Vinicius

Four people involved in a hate campaign targeting Real Madrid striker Vinicius Junior, before the Madrid derby between Real and Atlético on September 29 (1-1), were arrested, Spanish police announced on Thursday .

Identified, according to the Spanish press, as supporters of Atlético, the latter are considered to be the alleged instigators of the “#metropolitanoconmascarillas (Metropolitano with masks)” campaign which has gone viral on social networks, where they called for people to come and attend the Madrid derby with surgical masks over their mouths to be able to freely insult opposing players, especially Vinicius.

Three criminal convictions in recent months

In June 2023, four ultra supporters of Atlético, accused of having hung a mannequin bearing the likeness of Vinicius Jr from a bridge in the Spanish capital, were banned from stadiums for two years by the Spanish authorities. The criminal proceedings opened against them are still ongoing.

On September 26, a supporter of the Spanish club Mallorca was also sentenced to 12 months in prison and a three-year stadium ban for racist insults targeting Real Madrid star and ex-Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze. This was the third criminal conviction handed down in recent months for racist insults against Real Madrid players, including Vinicius Junior.

On June 10, three Valencia supporters were also sentenced to eight months in prison for having uttered racist insults in their club’s stadium in May 2023, already targeting the Brazilian striker.

These incidents, which caused a wave of international indignation, had ignited the debate in Spain, where cases of racism have been frequent for several decades in football stadiums, despite the work of the authorities. Having become a figure in the fight against racism in Spanish football, Vinicius Jr was often the target, but only some of these incidents resulted in sanctions.