Football’s racism protocol obsolete: Coach Ancelotti after Vinicius abuse

Vinicius Junior

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday that FIFA's racism protocol in football was "obsolete" after Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior was abused by Valencia fans.

The 22-year-old forward suffered vile racist taunts at Mestalla on Sunday in La Liga, with three fans arrested by Spanish police on Tuesday. Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea activated the racism protocol after Vinicius squared off with fans, singling out one whom he saw abuse him.

Also Read: ‘Hope he doesn't score': Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes on Erling Haaland

FIFA's three-step process involves the match being paused until a stadium announcement is made asking for racist abuse to stop, which happened at Mestalla. The second step, after any further abuse, is to temporarily take players off the pitch and the third step, if it continues, is to abandon the game and give three points to the opposition.

"The protocol is obsolete," Ancelotti told reporters. "The protocol had to be applied when the team bus reached the stadium, because the insults started there." Meanwhile, Spanish police arrested seven people on Tuesday over two incidents of racial abuse targeting Real Madrid's Brazilian star Vinicius Junior, including one this weekend that sparked an international outcry.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever