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Vinicius Jr has been accused of lying and mocked up as Pinocchio on a newspaper front page after he testified in a trial centred on three fans alleged to have racially abused him.
The Real Madrid star was abused during the LaLiga match at Mestalla back in May and he pointed out the fans making the discriminatory comments in the stands.
Brazil international forward Vinicius was later sent off for violent conduct, a punishment that was later rescinded, while Valencia were handed a partial stadium ban and £40,000 fine.
The club released a statement after the player gave his testimony on Thursday, demanding Vinicius rectify his ‘unfounded lie’ that Valencia fans are generally racist.
A newspaper in Valencia has mocked Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr up as Pinocchio on their front page and accused the footballer of lying about the racist abuse he received at a game in May
Vinicius accused Valencia supporters of making monkey gestures and noises during the LaLiga match at Mestalla on May 21
The Brazilian testified at the trial of three fans accused of racially abusing him on Thursday
The front page of local Valencia newspaper Super Deporte on Friday took things a stage further by superimposing Pinocchio’s nose on a picture of the player.
The children’s character, a wooden puppet, is known for his long nose, which grows whenever he lies.
Super Deporte said Vinicius had ‘taken his lie to the limit’ and accused him of ‘committing perjury’ during his testimony ‘when he claims that the entire stadium uttered racist insults against him.’
The paper’s report made a great play of Vinicius twice delaying his court appearance because he was on holiday.
Finally appearing on Thursday, they said ‘the footballer did not hesitate to insist that the entire stadium showed racist behaviour towards him.’
Super Deporte then attempt to refute the player’s claims by saying video footage of the fans had been doctored so they were saying ‘monkey, monkey’ rather than ‘fool, fool.’
After the match in May, Vinicius posted an Instagram story which saw him state that ‘racism is normal in LaLiga’ and that ‘the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano, and Messi, now belongs to racists’.
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.
The player and Real Madrid have claimed the entire Mestalla stadium was abusing Vinicius – something strongly refuted by Valencia
The 23-year-old was given a red card – but this was later rescinded, and Valencia were given a partial stadium ban for the abuse
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 the stand was only closed 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.
