Just a day after the official announcement of Vinicius Junior’s sanction following the controversial match in Valencia on January 3rd, Barça, through its vice-president and spokesperson María Elena Fort, expressed being deeply upset by the punishment imposed by LaLiga and the RFEF.
While going through a challenging period since December due to its inability to register Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor for the second half of the Liga season, Barça is using the situation involving Vinicius Junior to plead its case. This Wednesday, María Elena Fort, vice-president and spokesperson of the Catalan club, spoke out. In an interview with ‘El Mon’ on ‘RAC1’, the Barça official expressed outrage and disappointment over the “light” two-match ban handed to the Real Madrid forward after his controversial red card against Valencia CF.
Barça’s unexpected reaction
Claiming that Vinicius Junior had violently attacked the opposing goalkeeper and misbehaved towards the referee at the time of his dismissal, the Barça vice-president stated that she expected a much harsher punishment than the two-match suspension imposed by the Competition Committee of the Spanish Football Federation. “This demonstrates what Barça has to face every single day. It is not proportional if you compare it to what Hansi Flick went through,” said María Fort, asserting that the Catalan club is always penalised more harshly than others.
In the continuation of her remarks on RAC1 radio, as reported by Marca, Barça’s spokesperson also focused on the issue of players currently unregistered. With the case of Vinicius Junior, whom many Catalans expected to receive at least a four-match ban, Fort sought to criticise LaLiga under Javier Tebas. According to the Catalans, Real Madrid enjoys significant favouritism compared to them, which they argue is far from the reality.
The blatant injustices recently suffered by Real Madrid
In the 12th matchday game that Real Madrid played at Mestalla against Valencia CF last Friday, it must be noted that the referees made significant errors. First, there was the disallowed goal for Kylian Mbappé due to a non-existent offside, despite the use of VAR in the 58th minute. While Real Madrid was trailing, this spectacular goal would have lifted the spirits of Carlo Ancelotti’s players had it been allowed. Following this significant mistake, tensions remained high throughout the match. Even in the incident leading to Vinicius Junior’s red card, it should be noted that it was the opposing goalkeeper who should have been penalised first for his provocative action.
Today, even though Barça complains about a lenient punishment, it must be said that LaLiga has not gone easy on Vinicius. Besides the two-match suspension, the Brazilian winger must pay a hefty fine of €600,000, while Real Madrid has to pay a modest €700,000. For a team that suffered major refereeing errors in this match and for a player who faced racist chants and provocations throughout the game leading to his dismissal, the punishment is far from lenient.
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