Vinicius Junior Spared Ban for Red Card, Fine Imposed on Valencia

Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior has been freed from suspension Tuesday after his red card against Valencia, in a match during which he suffered racist abuse from home supporters at their Mestalla stadium.

The Spanish football federation’s Competition Committee said they accept Real Madrid’s complaint against Vinicius’ red card for hitting Valencia’s Hugo Duro on Sunday after reviewing the video footage.

The committee also ordered the closure of the Mario Kempes stand at the stadium for five matches and imposed a fine of 45,000 euros on Valencia.

Vinicius faced off with fans at that end of the Mestalla stadium and pointed out one who had been abusing him.

Later in the game he was sent off for hitting Duro in a brawl, after the referee was shown footage on VAR.

However the footage omitted Duro grabbing Vinicius around the neck with his arm moments before the 22-year-old Brazilian hit out.

“Such a decision was determined by the omission of the VAR room of the entire play, without showing the aggression carried out seconds before,” said the Competition Committee in a statement.

Vinicius has hit out against La Liga in the days since the incident, and garnered worldwide support for his fight against racism, after suffering similar abuse on multiple occasions this season.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)