Xavi Hernandez, the coach of Barcelona, expressed his surprise and disagreement with the decision to overturn the red card given to Vinicius Junior, the Real Madrid star. The 22-year-old Brazilian player had received the red card for slapping Hugo Duro, a Valencia footballer, after being subjected to racial abuse by Valencia's fans.
However, on May 23, the Spanish football federation's Competition Committee accepted Real Madrid's complaint and rescinded the red card issued to Vinicius Junior, citing a review of the video footage. It was discovered that the footage shown to the referee prior to the red card decision had omitted a clip of Duro grabbing a Real Madrid player around the neck.
Xavi, who had previously shown support for Vinicius regarding the racial abuse he endured, voiced his opinion that the red card decision should have remained in place after the altercation with Hugo Duro. Xavi stated, "I don't know if overturning Vinicius Junior's red card is fair. My thoughts are that racism should be condemned. It's a different thing what the players do on the pitch. There was aggression there, so I am surprised that they rescinded the red card."
In a previous press conference, Xavi had expressed his belief that matches should be stopped in the face of abuse. He argued that insults should not be accepted in any profession and that the football industry should take a stand against it. Xavi emphasized the importance of defending football professionals as individuals and citizens, and condemned the need for players to endure insults. He advocated for a collective effort to address this issue and highlighted the need for education to combat the lack of respect and insults prevalent in the football environment.
