Real Madrid claimed that racial abuse prompted the reaction Vinicius Junior which led to his red card against Valencia. Los Blancos appealed his suspension, and cited discrimination as a mitigating factor.
On Tuesday, Vinicius was banned for two games by the Competition Committee for his red card, the minimum ban available for shoving Stole Dimitrievski in the face. The punishment could be extended to four games.
Meanwhile Valencia, as well as Leganes, were surprised by the fact that the ban was so short. During the VAR audio, referee Cesar Soto Grado acknowledged that the ball was not in play as Vinicius tackled Dimitrievski, but in his match report, he reflected that the play was dead. The material difference is that the ban is between 4 and 12 games if the ball is not in play.
The Blancos are however trying to cancel the ban on appeal, as explained by Relief. They claim that Soto Grado was shown incomplete evidence, without Dimitrievski's challenge being shown to the referee. However, this was denied by the Competition Committee, who said they saw this test twice.
His second mitigating factor is alleged racial abuse. They say that Vinicius was abused before the red card, mitigating his reaction. This defense was also rejected by the Competition Committee, which says that it is not justified the action of the player sent.
Real Madrid based its complaint on videos posted by fans from the stands, in which racist insults towards Vinicius can be heard, but there is no evidence that Soto Grado or Vinicius or any of the players of the Real Madrid have heard these insults. As indicated by Chain SERneither the referee nor Real Madrid moved to activate the racism protocol.
La Liga has opened an investigation into the racial abuse, as they seek action. It is not yet clear if this could affect Vinicius' sanction, but it could certainly see the fans and potentially Valencia punished for it.
Vinicius has had to face the scourge of racism more than anyone in Spanish football, and there is no doubt that it is impossible to imagine the impact this has on him for anyone else. However, this contrasts with previous incidents where Vinicius and Carlo Ancelotti both directly addressed racial abuse when they heard it, and both remained silent on the matter.
