Three Valencia football fans were sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday for hate crimes against Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr, the first conviction for racist insults in a soccer stadium in Spain, the court announced. - REUTERS
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00:00 Three Valencia football fans on Monday were sentenced to eight months in prison for hate
00:05 crimes against Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr.
00:09 And according to the court, it's the first-ever conviction for racist insults in a soccer
00:13 stadium in Spain.
00:14 The events happened at Valencia's Mestalla Stadium in May of last year, when racist slurs
00:19 were hurled at Vinicius, who was black, during a league match.
00:23 The three supporters, who pleaded guilty to the charges, were also banned from entering
00:27 football stadiums for two years in order to pay the costs of the proceedings.
00:32 Prosecutor Susana Hizbert responded to the verdict outside the courthouse.
00:36 "People should know that this type of act is punishable.
00:42 It is punishable as a hate crime because the sentence is for moral integrity, with the
00:47 aggravating factor of hate.
00:50 And it is also very important that one of the factors taken into account for the suspension
00:54 of the execution of the sentence is the fact of repentance and a letter of public apology,
01:00 as well as the fact of not going near not only the stadium but also stadiums where official
01:05 matches are held."
01:06 In Spain, prison sentences of less than two years for non-violent crimes rarely require
01:14 a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time, so the three football fans
01:18 are likely to remain free unless they commit further offenses.
01:22 The racist actions last year led to an outpouring of support for the Brazilian forward and galvanized
01:27 a series of local and international campaigns.
01:31 This past season, 23-year-old Vinicius helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title and the
01:36 Champions League.
01:37 He was named the Champions League Player of the Season and is one of the favorites to
01:41 win the Ballon d'Or for the world's best player in October.
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