Five people sentenced to one year in prison for insulting Vinícius Jr. in landmark ruling against racism

Five people who insulted Vinícius Jr. in a football match in 2022 have been given a one year prison sentence by the Provincial Court of Valladolid. While this is hardly the first time football fans have been judged for insulting players, this is the first time in Spain that it happens that legally categorises racist insults as a hate crime. Earlier, racist was considered an aggravating factor within a broader category of crimes against moral integrity.

"The fact that this ruling explicitly refers to hate crimes associated with racist insults reinforces the message that intolerance has no place in football", said LaLiga in a statement, with his president Javier Tebas describing it as a "historic ruling" and a milestone in their fight against racism and intolerance.

The sentence is 1 year in prison, but they will not go to jail as long as they make no further offence and don't attend any football stadium in the next three years. They were sentenced to pay between €1,080 to €1,620 to Vinícius, but the player renounced the compensation.

Earlier this week, Vinícius Jr. testified for another incident when Atlético de Madrid ultras hung a dummy with his shirt from a bridge. The Brazilian player has been victim of racist insults in other stadiums, too: Valencia CF is asking for a correction in Vini Jr. Netflix documentary, because they think the subtitles do not match the words used by thousands of fans, chanting "monkey" or "dumb", depending on who you ask...