Spanish police make seven arrests after worldwide outrage at Vinicius Junior racist abuse

At around seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, Spanish police made a co-ordinated visit to four homes in the Madrid area. Three members of the Frente Atletico ultras group, a band of Atletico Madrid fans, and another man were detained as part of an investigation into an alleged hate crime.

The crime, in late January, was one designed to draw public attention. An inflatable mannequin, dressed in a replica number 20 Real Madrid jersey, Vinicius Junior’s shirt, had been hung by its neck from a road bridge close to Real Madrid’s training ground.

A banner spread across the bridge’s railings said "Madrid hates Real". Atletico and Real were scheduled to meet a few days later in a Spanish Cup derby, a fixture previously disfigured by sustained racist abuse directed against Vinicius at Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium.

The arrests, all of men between the ages of 19 and 25, followed 36 hours of worldwide outrage at the latest racist targeting of Vinicius, the 22-year-old Brazilian winger, during a Madrid away match at Valencia on Sunday.

Police later on Tuesday also arrested three youths in Valencia for "insults and gestures with racist overtones" towards the player that amounted to "an alleged hate crime" during Sunday's match.

After their statements were taken, they were later "released on condition they appear when summoned" by the public prosecutor's office or the courts, a police spokesman said.

In a statement, Valencia confirmed the arrests, reiterating their "strongest condemnation of racism and violence" and saying the club was acting against those involved "by banning them for life" from their stadium.

On Sunday, play was interrupted for 10 minutes in Valencia after Vinicius pointed to an individual in the crowd who he