Spain’s Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior congratulated the Sevilla team for quickly moving to report and eject a fan for allegedly making a racist gesture toward him during Saturday’s football game.
The fan was handed over to local authorities.
Sevilla said in a statement that it “condemns any racist and xenophobic behavior.”
Vinicus said he had also seen video reported to be from Saturday’s game with a child making racist gestures.
Media outlets did not detail what the gestures were. However, many Black football players playing in Europe have been subjected to monkey chants, people calling them monkeys and people making gestures like a monkey. Spectators have also thrown bananas at the Black players.
Vinicius is a Black Brazilian.
Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the match, Vinicius said Saturday’s incident was "number 19 and counting.”
Earlier this year, an effigy of Vinicus was hung from a bridge in Madrid.
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press.
