{"id":70568,"date":"2023-05-25T10:23:22","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T10:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/05\/25\/laliga-boss-tebas-apologises-for-twitter-attack-on-vinicius\/"},"modified":"2023-05-25T10:23:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T10:23:22","slug":"laliga-boss-tebas-apologises-for-twitter-attack-on-vinicius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/05\/25\/laliga-boss-tebas-apologises-for-twitter-attack-on-vinicius\/","title":{"rendered":"LaLiga boss\u00a0Tebas apologises for Twitter ‘attack’ on Vinicius"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Soccer Football – La Liga President Javier Tebas speaks to Reuters about Vinicius Jr and racism – La Liga headquarters, Madrid, Spain – May 24, 2023 La Liga president Javier Tebas during an interview with Reuters. REUTERS\/Guillermo Martinez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

La Liga president Javier Tebas says he did not mean to \u201cattack\u201d Vinicius Jr on social media after the Real Madrid player was racially abused by opposition fans at Valencia on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Vinicius and Tebas were involved in Twitter row after the forward said the Spanish league \u201cbelongs to racists\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tebas\u2019 and La Liga\u2019s handling of the incident has been widely condemned.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to attack Vinicius, but if people understood it that way I have to apologise,\u201d Tebas told\u00a0ESPN Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was not my intention, far from it. I was trying to clarify a situation and explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing on social media after the match, Vinicius said that \u201cthe championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists\u201d and \u201cin Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tebas said Vinicius twice did not turn up for a meeting to discuss what it \u201ccan do in cases of racism\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you criticise and slander La Liga, you need to inform yourself properly,\u201d Tebas said.<\/p>\n

Vinicius criticised the post for targeting him instead of racists, saying he wanted La Liga to take \u201cactions and punishments\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tebas replied: \u201cNeither Spain nor La Liga are racist, it is very unfair to say that.\u201d He went on to outline the actions La Liga had taken against racism this season.<\/p>\n

La Liga has since said it will request\u00a0\u201cmore sanctioning powers\u201d\u00a0so it can punish incidents of racism.<\/p>\n

What has happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s game was paused in the second half as an incensed Vinicius reported opposition fans to the referee.<\/p>\n

Real have reported the abuse to the Spanish prosecutor\u2019s office as a hate crime.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Spanish Football Federation announced Valencia had been\u00a0sanctioned with a partial stadium closure\u00a0for five matches following the incident and fined 45,000 euros (\u00a339,000).<\/p>\n

The club called the decision to partially close their stadium \u201cdisproportionate, unjust and unprecedented\u201d and said they intend to appeal against that part of the sanction.<\/p>\n

Spanish police have also\u00a0detained three people\u00a0in connection with the abuse directed at the Brazilian at Mestalla Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Vinicius\u2019 was sent off late in the 1-0 defeat but his red card has been rescinded, meaning he will not have to serve a suspension. However, he is injured and will miss Real\u2019s home game against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The player has been the target of racist abuse multiple times this season.<\/p>\n

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