Spanish football club, Valencia, has been punished with a partial stadium shutdown for five matches, following the racial abuse of Real Madrid striker Vinicius Jr.
Valencia was also assessed a 45,000 euro ($39,000) penalties.
Spanish police have detained three people in connection with the abuse directed at the Brazilian at Mestalla Stadium on Sunday.
Vinicius won’t need to serve a suspension because his late red card has been overturned.
Valencia referred to the decision to close part of their stadium as “disproportionate, unjust, and unprecedented”. They also stated they will be filing an appeal to have that aspect of the penalty overturned.
The south stand of the Mestalla Stadium will be shut down; Vinicius, who was visibly upset and outraged during Sunday’s second half, pointed to this section before informing the referee of the problem.
Read Also: Spanish Govt to reduce influx of migrants from Africa, others by 60 percent
He was dismissed in the 97th minute of the 1-0 loss;but now that the red card has been reversed, he will be eligible to play against Real Vallecano on Wednesday. That is, if he recovers from the knee injury that kept him out of practice on Tuesday.
The Madrid forward was dismissed following a video assistant referee review for knocking Valencia forward Hugo to the ground, Vinicius.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said that the referee’s decision to dismiss Vinicius was due to him being “deprived of a decisive part of the facts”. They added that it was “impossible for him to properly assess what happened”.
