Football fan arrested for ‘death threats’ against girl wearing Real Madrid shirt
29 February 2024, 12:04
The eight-year-old was wearing a shirt of Vinicius Junior when she was targeted.
Spanish police have arrested an Atletico Madrid fan for using racist language and death threats to terrorise an eight-year-old girl who was wearing a shirt of Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior.
The child suffered a “strong anxiety attack” after the incident before the game at Atletico’s stadium on September 24 last year, Spain’s National Police said on Thursday.
The police said the alleged perpetrator hurled “racist insults and death threats” at the girl outside the stadium. He also “hit the arm of the family member who was holding” the girl before being stopped by other fans.
The man was arrested on Wednesday after he was identified using video evidence and eventually located, police said.
Vinicius has been repeatedly subjected to racist attacks.
That included the hanging of an effigy of the Brazilian forward before a game with Atletico in January 2023.
Four people were arrested for that incident. State prosecutors are seeking to put them in prison for four years if found guilty of the alleged hate crime.
