LALIGA: Tebas says he didn’t mean to attack Vinicius Jnr on Twitter

Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, has stated that he did not intend to “attack” Vinicius Jr on Twitter following the racial abuse the Real Madrid player suffered from opposing fans during the match against Valencia on Sunday.

A Twitter dispute arose between Vinicius and Tebas subsequent to the forward’s comment asserting that the Spanish league is associated with racist elements.

The response and actions of Tebas and La Liga regarding this incident have faced significant criticism and disapproval.

“I didn’t mean to attack Vinicius, but if people understood it that way I have to apologise,” Tebas told ESPN Brazil.

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“That was not my intention, far from it. I was trying to clarify a situation and explain it.”

Writing on social media after the match, Vinicius said that “the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano, and Messi today belongs to racists” and “in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists”.

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Tebas said Vinicius twice did not turn up for a meeting to discuss what it “can do in cases of racism”.

“Before you criticise and slander La Liga, you need to inform yourself properly,” Tebas said.

Vinicius criticised the post for targeting him instead of racists, saying he wanted La Liga to take “actions and punishments”.

Tebas replied: “Neither Spain nor La Liga are racist, it is very unfair to say that.” He went on to outline the actions La Liga had taken against racism this season.

La Liga has since said it will request “more sanctioning powers” so it can punish incidents of racism.