Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr ‘deserves a slap for being a clown’, blasts Barcelona board member as he also appears to DENY that Brazilian experienced racism in now-deleted post

• Mikel Camps is the deputy spokesperson for Barcelona Board of Directors
• In a now deleted tweet he aired extraordinary views about Vinicius Jr  
• He said: ‘It’s not racism, he deserves a slap for being a clown’

Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has come under an extraordinary attack from the deputy spokesperson for the Barcelona Board of Directors. 

In a now deleted tweet, which was widely shared and condemned before he removed it, Mikel Camps took to social media during Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Braga on Tuesday. 

He wrote: ‘It’s not racism, he deserves a slap for being a clown. What do these unnecessary and meaningless stepovers represent in the center of the field?’

Vinicius Jr has been the victim of abhorrent racist abuse on many occasions. As recently as the 1-1 draw with Sevilla at the weekend, one of the opposition fans racially abused him and was immediately ejected from the ground. 

Sevilla have now confirmed they identified and banned him for life. 

Vinicius Jr (right) was the subject of an extraordinary tweet by Barcelona’s Board of Directors’ deputy spokesman Mikel Camps on Tuesday night during the game against Braga

Camps posted the above message on his social media before deleting it. It translates as: ‘It’s not racism, he deserves a slap for being a clown. What do these unnecessary and meaningless stepovers represent in the center of the field?

Camps has a profile page on the official Barcelona club website – it remains to be seen if he will be disciplined

Last season, Vinicius was racially abused by Valencia fans in the form of monkey gestures and chants, leading to an eventual punishment of partial stadium closure for three matches and a fine of (£23,500).

And four people were arrested in Spain in May under suspicion of hanging an effigy of Vinicius off a bridge in January. 

Yet Camps appeared to deny the racism Vinicius has had to contend with. 

It remains to be seen whether Barcelona will take action and the club are yet to comment. 

The ugly fallout forms the backdrop to El Clasico, in which Vinicius will take centre stage against Camps’ Barcelona on Saturday afternoon. 

After being abused by the Sevilla fan at the weekend, Vinicius released a statement thanking the club for their swift action. 

He wrote: ‘Congratulations to Sevilla for their quick positioning and punishment in yet another sad episode for Spanish football.

‘Unfortunately, I had access to a video of another racist act in this Saturday’s match, this time carried out by a child.

Vinicius Jr posted this image of a fan racially abusing him in the Sevilla game at the weekend

The Real winger is likely to feature for his side against Barcelona in El Clasico on Saturday

‘The face of today’s racist is plastered on websites as on many other occasions. I hope the Spanish authorities do their part and change the legislation once and for all. These people must be criminally punished too.’

The conversation surrounding racism in LaLiga intensified last season, ignited by the incident towards the end of Real Madrid’s game at Valencia. 

‘[He called me] a monkey,’ Vinicius said at the time. ‘This one’, pointing, again.

Valencia players tried to restrain him and talk him down. There was then a scuffle in stoppage time when the Brazilian appeared to be grabbed around the neck but ended up being the one sent off. His red card was later rescinded. 

After the game, Carlo Ancelotti said: ‘I don’t want to talk about football. I want to talk about what happened here. LaLiga has a problem.’ 

Valencia’s response to was: ‘Valencia has condemned, condemns and will condemn any racist or violent act… Valencia has worked from the very beginning with the police and the relevant authorities to clear up the events of last Sunday. In addition, we have applied the maximum punishment possible, banning the fans identified by the police for life from our stadium.

‘For that reason, we believe that punishing all the fans who were not involved in these disgraceful incidents and depriving them of the ability to watch their team is a totally disproportionate, unfair, unprecedented measure.’

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