Valencia accuse Real Madrid star Vinicus Jr of telling ‘unfounded LIES’ as the player testifies in a racism case which sees three people on trial for racially abusing him at the club’s stadium in May

Valencia has issued a statement accusing Vinicius Jr of sharing ‘fallacies and unfounded lies’ after the player testified in an ongoing trial centred on three people who allegedly abused the Brazil international in May. 

The match between Real Madrid and Los Ches hit the headlines for the wrong reasons at the end of last season after the 23-year-old received racist abuse from the spectators at Valencia’s Mestalla ground. 

The winger pointed out the fans that were making the discriminatory comments, and the game was paused as the referee talked with the fourth official and the coaches on the touchline. 

But play continued, and Vinicius was later handed a red card in the fracas – which was eventually rescinded. 

After the match, Vinicius posted an Instagram story which saw him state that ‘racism is normal in La Liga‘ and that ‘the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano, and Messi, now belongs to racists‘. 

The winger was subjected to derogatory chanting of ‘monkey’ from home fans during a clash with Valencia last season

The 23-year-old was given a red card – but this was later rescinded, and Valencia were given a partial stadium ban

As per MARCA, in the player’s testimony in court on Thursday, Vinicius claimed that the whole of Mestalla were racially abusing him, and that he felt like a victim of discrimination. 

Vinicius’ team-mate Eder Militao has been called upon by the judge to provide an eye-witness account as the trial continued. 

But Valencia, who were hit with a partial stadium ban and a £40,000 fine, refuted the testimony, and issued a strongly worded statement that detailed their ‘surprise, rejection, and indignation’ at his comments. 

‘As coach Carlo Ancelotti himself publicly acknowledged, in no case can the behaviour be generalised to the entire Mestalla stadium,’ the statement read.

‘The club is fully aware of the seriousness of this matter. Racism has no place in football or in society, but it cannot be fought with fallacies or unfounded lies. 

‘This issue requires the involvement of everyone and Valencia CF understands that it must be scrupulously precise and responsible in this type of demonstrations.

‘The Valencia fans cannot be classified as racist and Valencia CF demands that Vinicius Jr. publicly rectify his alleged statement this morning.’

In the wake of the events at the Mestalla last season, Ancelotti said: ‘It wasn’t one person. It was the whole stadium that went crazy. I had never before seen a whole stadium being racist. Maybe I’ve seen a few people being racist, but I had never seen that from a whole stadium’. 

Vinicius’ team-mates banded together as the incident received international attention in May

The Real Madrid players sported his jersey before a match against Rayo Vallecano that week

A spokesperson for Valencia, Javier Solis, replied that Ancelotti had been ‘wrong’ to call out the whole stadium, and argued that ‘his words are the result of a translation error’. 

Valencia were quick to identify the supporters currently on trial in Madrid, but continue to move focus away from all fans at the stadium that day. 

After receiving their stadium ban, which saw a stand closed for five matches, the club sought an appeal, and only saw the stand closed off for three in total. 

Valencia called the sanction ‘unfair and disproportionate’, and head coach Ruben Barajas said that the time that he would fight against ‘smears’ on the club and its fanbase.