Watch: Real Madrid show solidarity for Vinicius Jr following episode of racial abuse in La Liga

After being subjected to racial comments from the crowd during Real Madrid vs Valencia La Liga game on Sunday, Vinicius JR. got support from his Real Madrid teammates as they wore his number 20 shirt before their La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday. The 22-year-old wasn’t part of the squad due to a knee injury but was present at the Santiago Bernabeu to cheer for his team.

The Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward has been a victim of racial abuse from the crowd during his team’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium in Spain. During the second half of the game, the play was stopped after Vinicius pointed out a fan in the stands for the abuse before he was engaged with the supporters in the section of the crowd in question.

An announcement was made in the stadium requesting the fans not to insult the players or throw objects on the pitch. Vinicius was sent off in the final minutes of the game as he was involved in an altercation with Valencia player Hugo Duro.

However, on Tuesday, the Spanish football federation’s Competition Committee revoked his red card as there were some images from the VAR video were not shown to the referee who sent him off. Valencia had the south stand of Mestalla shut for five matches as punishment for the racist abuse, which they said they will appeal against.

Vinicius acknowledged the crowd for supporting him

Vinicius also got a lot of support from the crowd during the match against Rayo Vallecano, as they held banners in his support. A banner in one stand read “We are all Vinicius, enough already!” while players held up another message reading “Racists, out of football”, as part of a joint campaign from the federation and La Liga.

After 20 minutes into the game, the crowd started chanting “Vini, Vini” and applauded, after which, the Brazilian also acknowledged the crowd by standing up and applauding them back and returning their support with a thumbs up. Vinicius enjoyed the game from Madrid’s presidential box, alongside chief Florentino Perez. He is expected to return in action for Madrid on Saturday when Los Blancos visit Europa League finalists Sevilla.