Mallorca fan gets suspended one-year prison sentence over racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior and Samuel Chukwueze
A Mallorca fan was sentenced to one year in prison after racially abusing Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior and former Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze. The case is significant because it is one of the latest criminal rulings in Spain tied to racist abuse in football, and because the court treated the conduct as an offence against moral integrity aggravated by racist motive.
The supplied evidence says the prison sentence was suspended after the defendant apologised, showed remorse, and completed an equality and anti-discrimination programme. It also imposed a three-year stadium ban. That outcome shows the court wanted both punishment and behaviour change: the criminal conviction stood, but immediate custody did not follow because the defendant met the conditions described in the source.
The abuse of Vinícius occurred during Real Madrid’s 1-0 La Liga defeat at Mallorca’s Son Moix Stadium in February 2023. A fortnight later, the same fan insulted Chukwueze, who has since moved to AC Milan. The source makes clear that the conviction covered both incidents. It also says another Mallorca supporter, a minor who racially abused midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, was banned from stadiums for a year after apologising and agreeing to educational activities.
The case lands in a broader pattern that has drawn international attention to racism in Spanish football. The source notes that this was the third criminal conviction in recent months for racist insults aimed at Real Madrid players, especially Vinícius, who has faced repeated abuse since arriving in Spain in 2018. It also mentions earlier convictions involving Valencia fans, showing that the issue is not isolated to one club or one stadium.
What makes the case notable is that it moves beyond fan outrage and into the legal system. The criminal court did not just condemn the conduct in principle; it applied a sentence, a suspension condition, and a specific stadium ban. That is an important signal for Spanish football authorities and clubs that repeated abuse can carry personal legal consequences for supporters.
At the same time, the evidence shows the legal response has not ended the wider debate. Vinícius had recently called for Spain to lose its 2030 World Cup hosting rights unless racism in stadiums improved, and the source points to long-running concern over racist abuse in the sport. The verified facts in this case show a court action with direct penalties, but they also show how much public pressure remains on Spanish football to do more.
