Mallorca fans were filmed racially abusing Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in their Son Moix stadium during their 1-0 win over the La Liga champions on Sunday, February 5. 
They were heard saying that the 22-year-old Brazilian striker is a monkey in a video published by the streaming company Dazn on social media. Vinicius was also subjected to 10 fouls during an ill-tempered contest in the Balearic Islands. He is also the most-fouled player in Europe’s top five leagues by a considerable margin this season. While Mallorca has decided not to deliver an official statement on the actions of certain sections of their support, the club’s coach Javier Aguirre who spoke during a radio interview, denied that his players had targeted Vinicius during the match. Vinicius has been subjected to racial abuse by fans on at least three occasions; at the Camp Nou against Barcelona in November 2021, at Atlético Madrid in September 2022, and at Valladolid in late December 2022. 
Spanish police are also investigating a possible hate crime against him after a mannequin wearing his No 20 shirt was hung from a bridge in front of the club’s training centre before the Madrid derby two weeks ago. Prosecutors in Madrid decided not to press charges over racist chanting aimed at Vinícius in September after finding it had “lasted a few seconds” and had not constituted a crime. In December Vinicius accused La Liga of continuing to do nothing about racist fans at matches, after videos on social media showed some shouting abuse and throwing objects at him the previous day at Valladolid. La Liga responded by issuing a statement condemning all forms of hate speech and saying it was following up on instances of racism at the match. Its president, Javier Tebas, said Vinicius’ accusations were “unfair and untrue”.