The four Atletico Madrid ultras responsible for hanging a racially motivated blow-up doll in a Vinicius Junior shirt from a bridge in Madrid could face up to four years in prison, as the prosecution sets out their case against them for hate crimes.
The Vinicius doll was hung from the bridge after Vinicius had been racially abused by Atletico fans earlier last season, and ahead of another derby clash, the doll was placed near the Valdebebas training ground, where Vinicius had a good chance of seeing it. It was done so below a banner in giant letters saying ‘Madrid hates Real’.
As per Diario AS, a judge has already imposed a restraining order on the four defendants, who are prohibited from contacting the Brazilian, or being within a 1,000 meters of him, either of the two stadiums pertaining to Atletico or Real Madrid, or any other professional football matches in Spain.
The legal action against racial abuse suffered by Vinicius has been stepped up over the past 12 months has been stepped up, with the La Liga trying to rid themselves of the stigma and reputation that has been brought about by multiple episodes of racial abuse in over the past two seasons.
