La Liga 'investigating fresh claims of racial abuse towards Vinicius Junior'

Fresh claims of racist abuse directed towards Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior are being investigated by La Liga, according to a report.

The 23-year-old appeared to be targeted by a child during Los Blancos' 2-2 draw with Valencia at Mestalla at the weekend, where his brace rescued a point for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

A video posted on social media shows a young child — who is sitting on the lap of a woman and has their face obscured — yelling the word 'mono', which translates to monkey in English.

The person whose lap the child is sitting on quickly notices the person filming and attempts to stop them from doing so, and the woman who recorded the footage spoke with ESPN Brasil after the game.

The woman revealed that the police had been called to the stadium, and according to The Athletic, La Liga have now launched their own investigation into the incident, which comes just 10 months on from previous racial abuse towards Vinicius.

During Real's away game with Valencia in May 2023, Vinicius drew the referee's attention to racism coming from Valencia supporters, three of whom were identified by the home club and banned from the stadium.

However, a report from the Spanish Football Federation stated that «hundreds» of supporters were racially abusing Vinicius prior to kickoff last season, and Los Che were given a five-game stadium closure, which was reduced to three on appeal.

Vinicius — who was sent off in injury time during last season's meeting with Valencia at Mestalla — claimed that «racism is normal» in La Liga after the game, and Real Madrid reported the abuse as a hate crime to the Spanish Attorney General's Office.

In between their two most recent games with Real Madrid at Mestalla, Valencia reportedly worked in