Prior to their Wednesday La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid wore Vinicius Junior’s name and number on the back of their jersey.
Vinicius was the target of racial taunts from Valencia supporters on Sunday, and La Liga president Javier Tebas responded by criticizing the players. But in a show of support, his teammates wore his shirt during the pregame warmup for their La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano.
Due to Vinicius’ outspoken social media campaign against La Liga and the support it received from the football community, La Liga has taken almost unprecedented action. The Brazilian’s red card and ban were erased after his dismissal against Valencia. Valencia, meanwhile, has been penalized and will have a sizable portion of their stadium shuttered for five games.
Due to a knee injury, Vinicius will be unavailable on Wednesday. He is anticipated to be back in the mix for this weekend’s game against Sevilla, though.
