Real Madrid lodges complaint against Osasuna referee for alleged mistreatment of Vinicius Junior

Real Madrid football club has registered a complaint against referee Juan Martinez Munuera, accusing him of 'wilfully and intentionally' ignoring racial insults directed at player Vinicius Junior.

Vinicius, who is an integral part of the Madrid team and comes from Brazil, has experienced several racist incidents since relocating to Spain.

Real Madrid has now alleged that Munuera knowingly overlooked the racist slurs hurled at Vinicius during a 4-2 victory over Osasuna on Saturday, a match where the 23-year-old player scored two goals. This fact, according to the club, has been excluded from Munuera's match report.

Madrid's statement says: 'Following severe slander, again, against our player Vinicius Junior during the previous League match that our team played at El Sadar, we, Real Madrid CF, would like to convey the following.'

'Our team has raised a complaint with the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation against the match referee Juan Martinez Munuera for careless drafting of the match report. This referee consciously and willingly overlooked the racial slurs and denigrating remarks made to our player, Vinicius Junior, despite other players alerting him repeatedly.'

'Additionally, Real Madrid has also filed a complaint with this federation regarding the aforementioned insults and humiliating remarks, and the matter has been referred to the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Sports for identification and punishment of the perpetrators.'

Vinicius has been consistently subjected to racist abuse in Spain. Four individuals were apprehended in May 2023 after displaying an effigy of the winger on a Madrid bridge.

During a La Liga match against Valencia at the Mestalla in that same month, Vinicius was subjected to more racial abuse and publicly denounced the incident, which sparked a larger dialogue on racism in Spain.

The statement issued by Madrid goes on to say, 'Considering these regrettable incidents at El Sadar, Real Madrid has broadened the complaint filed on Friday, March 15, to the State Attorney General's Office dealing with crimes of hate and discrimination due to the racist and hateful slurs aimed at our player, Vinicius Junior near the Olympic stadium in Montjuic and the Metropolitan stadium in Madrid, requesting identification of the offenders.'

'Real Madrid reiterates its condemnation of these violent acts of racism, discrimination, and hatred and demands definitive action to end the violence that our player, Vinicius Junior, has repeatedly encountered.'

After receiving his fifth league yellow card this season over the weekend, Vinicius will be sidelined for Madrid's first match after the March international break against Athletic Club.