Real Madrid’s last encounter was not just an ordinary match, but an event overshadowed by racist scenes and accusations targeting Vinicius Junior, reviving an ongoing crisis. In the match between Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon on February 17, 2026, the match was stopped for approximately 11 minutes after Vinicius informed the referee that he had been subjected to racist abuse, which prompted UEFA to open an investigation into this incident.
The interesting thing is that what happened did not remain just a passing verbal altercation on the field, but rather quickly turned into a disciplinary issue. Many reports have indicated the activation of the anti-racism protocol, and as investigations proceed, the circle of responsibility may expand to include a player accused of abuse and fans accused of making offensive gestures or chants, in a scene that re-asks the urgent question: Why do incidents of racism recur in football despite the many penalties and laws?
How do football regulations punish racism?
At UEFA level, disciplinary regulations impose strict penalties against “racist or discriminatory behaviour”. Article 14 of the UEFA regulations stipulates that anyone who insults human dignity on the basis of colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation shall be subject to a suspension of not less than ten matches or another appropriate sanction. If the behavior was committed by fans of a club, a minimum fine shall be imposed along with partial closure of the stadium or prohibition of the sale of tickets to its fans outside the ground. The penalties may include playing matches without an audience, closing the stadium, deeming the match lost, deducting points, or even exclusion from the stadium. Championship.
This framework explains why the European Union deals with issues of racism in its competitions as a file that goes beyond just the incident itself, as the punishment may affect both the player and the club based on the results of the investigation, the reports of the referee, the security coordinator, and the video clips circulating.
Law in Spain from the runway to the court
In Spain, the confrontation is not limited to sporting sanctions. There is an administrative path based on “Law 19 of 2007” to combat violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sports, a framework that aims to establish preventive measures and a sanctioning system in sporting events. Part of the sanctions passes through the Supreme Council for Sports and the bodies affiliated with the Committee on Violence and Racism in Sports, where examples of imposing fines and banning entry to stadiums for specific periods are repeated in various cases.
Most importantly, recent years have seen a clear shift towards adjudication, especially in cases involving Vinicius. In May 2025, racist abuse at Valladolid Stadium was considered a “hate crime,” as described by the Spanish League and the Supreme Sports Council, in an important precedent because it raises the incident from the category of “disgraceful behavior” to the category that the courts deal with as an assault on dignity and rights.
Before that, in June 2024, prison sentences were issued against fans for racist abuse of Vinicius, and at that time, the League presented the first conviction related to racist insults in a football match inside Spain.
Historically, racism in sports was linked to the same social structures, including segregation, discrimination, and denial of opportunities. Then it gradually turned into a struggle over “representation” and the right to exist in public spaces, before reaching today a new era called instant abuse across the stands and digital platforms.
In the mid-twentieth century, the entry of black athletes into major competitions became a political and social event par excellence. Jackie Robinson’s entry into Major League Baseball in 1947 was a watershed moment in breaking down racial barriers within American sports, amid extensive documentation of the hostility and discrimination he faced.
In 1968, the Olympic podium turned into a famous message of protest when Tommy Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in Mexico City, an incident that remains one of the sporting moments most closely linked to discussions of civil rights and discrimination.
Then European football came to reveal that the problem is not linked to a specific time. In 2006, the issue of racist chants returned strongly after Samuel Eto’o threatened to leave the field following abuse from the stands in the Spanish League, which put clubs and federations to a public test. In 2014, the incident of throwing a banana at Dani Alves in La Liga turned into a global symbol of racism in stadiums, and the ensuing discussions about penalties, the responsibility of clubs, and the speed of identifying the perpetrators.
Vinicius as an ongoing case, not as an isolated incident
What distinguishes the Vinicius case is that it is no longer considered just an individual incident, but rather a series of events that prompted the football and judicial institutions to adopt a tougher tone. Even at the level of official statements, the 2025 provisions were presented as a clear recognition of the seriousness of racist behavior as a hate crime, indicating that the battle is no longer limited to “banning a player” or “closing a stand”, but rather aims to establish the principle of legal deterrence.
With each new incident, the question expands about the gap between texts and application. Regulations are in place and penalties are gradually increasing to the harshest measures, and Spanish law provides administrative and judicial paths, but repeated scenes suggest that deterrence is not achieved by a fine alone, but rather by a series of measures that begin with quickly identifying the perpetrators and banning them from the stadiums, and do not end with the courts when necessary, just as Spain has begun to do in cases related to Vinicius during the last two years.
