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Is La Liga and Spain racist?

Spanish journalist says there is a ‘serious problem’ with race in Spain’s football league that ‘has to be solved’

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has urged the sports authorities in Spain and other European countries to act decisively to prevent the spread of fascism and racism in football grounds.

President Lula was speaking after the Brazil international, Vinícius Júnior, was subjected to racist chants during Real Madrid's match at Valencia. The game was momentarily paused in the second half as the Real Madrid forward reacted angrily to an incident in the stands. He was later sent off for the first time in his career.

The Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, said Spain's La Liga has a problem with racism. La Liga said it would take appropriate legal action if any hate crime is identified and called on people to submit any relevant footage.

Juan Castro is a journalist with Spanish newspaper, Marca. He told Newsday: “It’s not the first nor the second, it was the tenth time that this happened against Vinícius…Is La Liga racist? That’s very difficult to say because it’s a general affirmation…Is Spain a racist country? Well that’s quite difficult to maintain but what is true is…we have a serious problem in the Spanish league…this has to be solved.â€

(Picture: Shows Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior imitating the abuse directed towards him by a fan. Credit: Pablo Morano for Reuters.)

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