Real Madrid Win Legal Battle, Get Online Follower Convicted For Racism Towards Vinicius Jr, Rudiger

In a move of support for their players, Real Madrid announced that an online user, who had spewed racist abuse towards players Vinicius Jr. and Antonio Rudiger on online platforms, had been convicted to eight months of prison.

The convicted person carried out these attacks under different psuedonyms on the forum of the Spanish newspaper ‘Marca’. A fan, according to the club, was the one who brought the incident to the attention of the authorities, for which they have publicly expressed their gratitude.

The Spanish giants announced the conviction in an official statement detailing the legal process they had taken on in order to ensure that justice was served for their players.

“Real Madrid C.F. announces that the Parla Court of Instruction No. 5 has today handed down a guilty verdict against a person who, acting under various pseudonyms on the digital forum of the Marca newspaper, directed serious racist attacks and insults against our players Vinicius Junior and Antonio Rüdiger,” read an official statement from the club.

“The accused was found guilty of two offences against moral integrity committed against Vinicius Junior and Antonio Rüdiger, both aggravated by the fact that they acted with racist motives and, in the case of Antonio Rüdiger, also in contempt of his religion.

“The court ordered the accused to serve eight months in prison and not to participate in the above-mentioned forum for 20 months. The suspended prison sentence was made conditional on the defendant’s participation in an equal treatment and non-discrimination programme,” reads the statement.

This is the second criminal conviction for the racist insults received by Real Madrid players, and the first conviction sanctioned against the intolerable attacks of this racism that occur in online media.

Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr has been on the receiving end of such racial abuse far too long, both in Spain and in the international circuit.

“I just want to play football but it’s hard to move forward… I feel less and less like playing (due to the racist abuse),” Vinicius told a press conference back in March, when on international duty with Brazil.

“It never crossed my mind (to leave Spain) because if I leave Spain I give the racists exactly what they want.

“I will stay because that way the racists can continue to see my face more and more. I’m a bold player, I play for Real Madrid and we win a lot of titles and that doesn’t sit well with a lot of people.”