A Mallorca fan has been sentenced to one year in prison after he was found guilty of racially abusing Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze and Brazil forward Vinicius Junior.
The fan, whose name was not revealed, was also issued a three-year stadium ban on Thursday.
The supporter was found guilty of two crimes against moral integrity, aggravated by the fact that he acted with racist motives, according to the ruling.
The abuse of Vinicius occurred during Real Madrid’s 1-0 LaLiga defeat by Mallorca at their Son Moix Stadium in February 2023, before the same fan insulted Nigeria international Chukwueze, who is now at AC Milan, a fortnight later, while he wss still playing for Villarreal.
Real Madrid said the football fan’s prison sentence was suspended after he apologised and showed his remorse, with a letter addressed to Vinicius, having completed an equality and anti-discrimination programme.
It is the third criminal conviction handed down in recent months for racist insults towards Real Madrid players, in particular Vinicius, who has been the victim of numerous similar instances of abuse in stadiums across the country since arriving in Spain in 2018.
In June, three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for racist insults directed at the Brazilian striker at their club’s stadium in May 2023.
These incidents, which provoked a wave of international outrage, have sparked debate in Spain, where cases of racism have been frequent in football stadiums for decades.
also said another supporter of Mallorca, a minor who racially abused midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, had also been banned from stadiums for a year.
“[He has] apologised and shown remorse for his conduct, and he has agreed to complete socio-educational activities in the jurisdiction of minors as proposed by prosecutors,” added Real Madrid.
Earlier in September, Vinicius Junior called for Spain to be stripped of its 2030 World Cup hosting duties unless it makes progress on the issue of racism in stadiums.
