Valencia fans convicted for racist abuse against Vinicius Jr

Bangkok Post Group

Three Valencia football fans were 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. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00 Three Valencia football fans on Monday were sentenced to eight months in prison for hate

00:05 crimes against Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr.

00:09 And according to the court, it's the first-ever conviction for racist insults in a soccer

00:13 stadium in Spain.

00:14 The events happened at Valencia's Mestalla Stadium in May of last year, when racist slurs

00:19 were hurled at Vinicius, who was black, during a league match.

00:23 The three supporters, who pleaded guilty to the charges, were also banned from entering

00:27 football stadiums for two years in order to pay the costs of the proceedings.

00:32 Prosecutor Susana Hizbert responded to the verdict outside the courthouse.

00:36 "People should know that this type of act is punishable.

00:42 It is punishable as a hate crime because the sentence is for moral integrity, with the

00:47 aggravating factor of hate.

00:50 And it is also very important that one of the factors taken into account for the suspension

00:54 of the execution of the sentence is the fact of repentance and a letter of public apology,

01:00 as well as the fact of not going near not only the stadium but also stadiums where official

01:05 matches are held."

01:06 In Spain, prison sentences of less than two years for non-violent crimes rarely require

01:14 a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time, so the three football fans

01:18 are likely to remain free unless they commit further offenses.

01:22 The racist actions last year led to an outpouring of support for the Brazilian forward and galvanized

01:27 a series of local and international campaigns.

01:31 This past season, 23-year-old Vinicius helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title and the

01:36 Champions League.

01:37 He was named the Champions League Player of the Season and is one of the favorites to

01:41 win the Ballon d'Or for the world's best player in October.

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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