National Police drones unit at the Son Moix Stadium in Palma Mallorca

National Police drones unit at the Son Moix Stadium. | Policia Nacional

Andrew EdePalma11/02/2023 09:29
TW
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The National Police are closing in on identifying the Real Mallorca supporter who hurled racist abuse at Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior during last Sunday's LaLiga match. The police have been studying images from a drone that was being used for crowd control purposes.

Once identified, this individual potentially faces a heavy fine and a lifetime ban from the Son Moix Stadium.

Last Sunday, LaLiga expressed its strongest condemnation of the racist insults that were once more directed at Vinicius; he had previously been the target of such abuse at other matches, not just Real Mallorca. LaLiga said that it would be putting all the technical means at its disposal to identify those responsible and with the aim of taking the appropriate legal measures.

LaLiga has identified three other cases when Vinicius was the target - one of these involved Mallorca fans in March last year - and three further incidents related to Inaki and Nico Williams of Athletic Bilbao and Carlos Akapo of Cadiz (none of these involved Mallorca).

The incidents at the Son Moix have generated considerable discussion in the UK. Speaking on 5 Live Sport's Euro Leagues earlier this week, Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague said that "not one person in Spain has been sentenced or punished for a racist incident related to football".

What happened in Palma last Sunday could be about to change this.