Valencia threaten legal action over Rodrygo’s racism claim

Valencia have called on Real Madrid forward Rodrygo to withdraw his claim that the entire crowd at the club’s Mestalla stadium aimed racist chants at Vinicius Junior, or face legal action.

Three fans have been charged over the racist abuse of Vinicius during the LaLiga game on May 21, in an incident which sparked a global outcry and calls for tougher measures to tackle racism in Spanish football.

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Rodrygo made the claim — echoing an earlier statement by coach Carlo Ancelotti after the match, which he subsequently amended — during a press conference with Brazil on Wednesday.

“A lot of people say that Spain is racist. I don’t think Spain is a racist country,” Rodrygo said. “There are racist people, but the country itself isn’t [racist].

“I was at Mestalla, I saw the entire stadium shouting ‘monkey.’ It happens to me, I’m Black too. Sometimes I don’t see it, but on that occasion Vini did … When I saw what had really happened, it made me very sad. It was a difficult day.”

In a statement on Thursday, Valencia called the “entire stadium” claim “serious lies that contribute to stigmatising an exemplary fanbase in a completely unfair way.”

“Valencia CF categorically reject the false statements made by the player Rodrygo Goes, in which he said that the entirety of Mestalla participated in racist chants towards his teammate,” the club said.

“Just like his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who corrected his statements after the game, we ask Rodrygo Goes to also correct these false statements. Valencia CF reserve the right to take the appropriate legal measures to defend the honour of our club and fans.

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“Also, we must ask the players to have rigour and responsibility when making statements. Once again, we want to emphasise our strongest condemnation of any type of racism or violence, as demonstrated by the lifetime ban for the three fans involved in this unfortunate incident. There is no doubt about our commitment to eradicating this scourge on society.

“Likewise, we ask for the utmost respect for our fans and that they not be attacked with false information and hoaxes.”

Rodrygo responded to Valencia’s statement and Twitter and said he wanted to clarify his earlier comments.