Valencia face five-game partial stadium closure after racist chants

Valencia have been hit with a five-game partial stadium closure and a €45,000 ($48,500) fine following the racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior by fans.
Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Real Madrid's La Liga match against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium on Sunday after being subjected to alleged monkey chants from the crowd and Real Madrid, who said the abuse constituted a "hate crime", filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General's Office.
An statement from the Spanish football federation RFEF said on Tuesday night read: "The competition committee has sanctioned Valencia CF with the partial closure of the Mestalla stadium for five matches, more specifically the Mario Kempes south stand.
"It is considered proven that, as reflected by the referee in his minutes, there were racist shouts at Vinicius, a Real Madrid CF player, during the aforementioned match, altering the normal course of the match and considering the infractions very serious."
Valencia have 10 working days to file an appeal to the appeals committee.
La Liga players and officials called for racism to be tackled in Spain in the wake of Sunday's match.
Before Tuesday night's games between Real Valladolid and Barcelona, and Celta Vigo and Girona, players from both sides, as well as the match officials, stood behind banners which read "Racism, out of football".
There were similar sentiments at the Valladolid-Barcelona game as fans showed their support for Brazil international Vinicius.
Barcelona forward Raphinha removed his shirt when substituted to show a message of support for Vinicius: "As long as the colour of the skin is more important than the brightness of the eyes, there will be war."
Real Madrid forward Vinicius – who showed his appreciation of Raphinha's gesture on social media – was set to serve a two or three-match ban after being sent off at Valencia on Sunday when he was the alleged target of racial chants.
But Spain's competition committee has rescinded that red card and Vinicius could now feature against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday if he overcomes a slight knee injury.
A statement read: "This Committee considers it to be established that the referee's assessment was determined by the omission of the entirety of the play that took place."
La Liga, meanwhile, will request greater jurisdiction to punish clubs whose fans are guilty of racist abuse after feeling "powerless" at the lack of current sanctions in the wake of the latest Vinicius incident.
According to the country's law, L aLiga can currently only identify and report incidents, and punishment is rarely handed out.
Four people were arrested in Spain on Tuesday under suspicion of hanging an effigy of Vinicius off a bridge in January, the police said.
An inflatable doll dressed in a Vinicius shirt was hung from the railings with a banner that read 'Madrid hates Real Madrid' ahead of Real's Copa del Rey game with city rivals Atletico at the start of the year.
Valencia on Tuesday confirmed that police have also identified three fans suspected of racial abuse, but denied their fanbase is racist.
In a statement, the club said: "The match against Real Madrid was broadcast live and it is totally false that the entire stadium was shouting racist remarks.
"There has been a lot of confusion and misinformation in the last few days. Valencia demand a responsible and serious approach to the matter.
"Racism has no place in football or in our society. Valencia strongly condemn racism."
Vinicius tweeted on Monday night: "Every round away from home is an unpleasant surprise. And there were many this season. Death wishes, hanged doll, many criminal screams… All registered.
"But the speech always falls on 'isolated cases', 'a fan'. No, these are not isolated cases. They are continuous episodes spread across several cities in Spain (and even in a television programme)."