On Tuesday night, Vinicius, Real Madrid playerwas exonerated from the red that De Burgos Bengoetxea imposed on him after “hitting an opponent (Hugo Duro) in the face with his arm when the ball was not in play”. In its resolution, the RFEF Competition Committee argued that the images of VAR of that meeting, marked by racist insults to the Brazilian, were “biased”.
This marks a precedent in LaLiga, but this season, in the Italian Serie A, Romelu Lukaku, an Inter player, experienced a situation that also ended with the withdrawal of an expulsion. In the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals, played on April 4, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent celebrated the penalty equalizing goal at the last moment against Juventus with a gesture that set the ultras of the league on fire Juventus.
Lukaku, the celebration that filled the glass
The celebration consisted of a military salute and the gesture of silence that Lukaku had already used in a match between Belgium and Sweden, in homage to his partner Jérémy Doku. According to the footballers, it symbolized that they were oblivious to criticism and that they followed their own path. The ‘juventina’ stands did not stop to think about these double readings and insulted the Inter striker with shouts of “monkey” and simian gestures.
The referee understood that there had been a provocation and showed Lukaku the second yellow that prevented him from playing the second leg. The Belgian’s agency, Roc Nation Sports, assured after the match that the striker he had received racist insults before, during and after the goal. In his message, he asked that he be exempted from the red, calling it unfair. This, in the context of a celebration, that of Vinicius, after a tangana. Both, at the end of the duels.
“Racist acts against Lukaku cannot be accepted. Romelu celebrated his goals as he had done on other occasions. The referee’s response was a yellow. He deserves an apology from Juventus and we hope that Lega immediately condemn the behavior of Juve fans“, assured the statement from the player’s environment, where there was talk of” an opportunity to counteract racism instead of punishing the victim.
The Juve stands have already been closed
After this, various institutions such as the Belgian Federation or Anderlecht, Lukaku’s training club, expressed their solidarity with the footballer and They denounced a tier with a racist record. In 2018, Juventus faced a ban after Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly received racist chants.
In addition to a fine of 10,000 euros and the partial closure of the stadium (as will happen with Mestalla for five games), the Turin team launched an initiative to take those seats with children. In the case of Lukaku, the Sports Justice ended up agreeing with him.
The Italian Football Federation withdrew the red from the Belgian for facing racist insults after Inter’s claim. The ‘Nerazzurri’ had raised an uproar for pointing out their footballer “as the only culprit, despite being the victim”.
Vinicius’s red sentences the VAR
“Justice has been done and this sends a great message to the sport and beyond it. There is a desire to fight racism,” Lukaku said in a statement. As has happened with the case of Vinicius, the decision generated controversy due to its corrective and re-arbitration nature. The federation defended itself by claiming that it was a resolution taken “in an exceptional and extraordinary way.”
In the case of Vinicius, the RFEF Competition Committee took into consideration the “videographic and graphic evidence” presented by Real Madrid “that distort the presumption of veracity of the arbitration report.” The sentence is devastating against the collective of the collegiate, for which Florentino, hours before this rectification, had requested a “restructuring”. Finally, the exoneration of the Brazilian is based on a fierce criticism of VAR, which caused “the unjust expulsion of the player, turning the victim into an aggressor”.