Spanish police has announced they had detained four people in connection with an incident in which a mannequin representing Brazilian soccer star Vinicius Jr was hung under a bridge ahead of the Madrid derby against Atletico in January. Spanish prosecutors opened a probe Monday into racist chants aimed at Real Madrid’s star forward Vinicius Junior during a match between Valencia and Real Madrid at the Mestalla as the football federation president admitted the country had a “problem” with racism. During the match, Vinicius stood in front of fans behind the goal and pointed to the apparent culprit and play was delayed for several minutes in the second half. Vinicius was sent off in added time at the end of the game for hitting Valencia player Hugo Duro during a brawl. Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea spoke to stadium officials, who made an announcement calling for racist insults to stop before play resumed 10 minutes later. The referee wrote in his post-match report that a fan shouted “monkey, monkey” at the player. The police said: “Three of the detainees are active members of a radical Madrid club fan group. The mannequin appeared next to a 16-metre banner on the bridge which said ‘Madrid hates Real’ near Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground hours before a derby match. “The inquiries carried out up to now by investigators through DNA evidence, evidence from witnesses and other intelligence material led to the identification of four males as the alleged authors. Officers discovered three belonged to an ultras organisation and had already been identified during previous high-risk matches by police operatives seeking to prevent sporting violence. They were arrested in an operation carried out today which was coordinated with Madrid’s Court of Instruction Number 38 and a prosecution cyber-crimes section.”
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