ARSENAL FAN GETS 3-YEAR BAN FOR ONLINE ABUSE OF THOMAS PARTEY

A fan who racially abused Arsenal player Thomas Partey in a social media post was banned from attending all games for three years on Tuesday.

Charles Ogunmilade, who is Black, admitted to sending a "grossly offensive" message on X, which he claimed was satire of what a racist white person would say.

He posted the offensive comment in April 2023 after Partey, a Ghana international who is Black, missed a shot during Arsenal's 3-3 draw with Southampton.

The court in London was informed the post on X was reported to the police, who visited Ogunmilade's home. He said the comment was intended to be a sarcastic quote among a group of friends.

"I am not a racist person," Ogunmilade said in court.

While issuing his sentence, magistrate Shaoni Myer said Ogunmilade's early guilty plea, prior good character and experience of racism were taken into account.

The soccer banning order also requires him to surrender his passport to police whenever the England men's national team plays an away game abroad. He was ordered to pay a fine and costs totaling £260 ($325).

- Associated Press 

VALENCIA FANS JAILED FOR REAL MADRID'S VINICIUS RACIAL ABUSE

Vinícius Júnior appeared in court to testify in the case against the Valencia fans. OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images

 Three fans have been sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from stadiums for two years over the racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior at Mestalla in May 2023.

The incident -- which took place during Real Madrid's 1-0 LaLiga defeat to Valencia -- sparked uproar worldwide, after the Brazil star identified an individual in the crowd who had been racially abusing him, causing the game to be suspended.

Vinícius later hit out at Spanish authorities' handling of the issue, saying "racism is normal in LaLiga," while the league called for greater powers to deal with the problem.

LaLiga praised the guilty verdict, saying it was the first of its kind in Spain.

"This ruling is great news regarding the fight against racism in Spain," LaLiga president Javier Tebas said. "It redresses the wrong suffered by Vinícius Júnior and sends a clear message to those people who go to a football stadium to hurl abuse. LaLiga will identify them, report them and there will be criminal consequences for them."

"I understand that there may be some frustration at the length of time it takes for these sentences to be handed down, but this shows that Spain is a country that guarantees judicial integrity. LaLiga can only respect the pace of justice, and once again demand that Spanish legislation evolves so that LaLiga has sanctioning powers that can speed up the fight against racism."

In a statement on Monday, Real Madrid said it would continue to work to eliminate racism.

"The three accused have accepted their criminal responsibility and have made public a letter of apology addressed to Vinícius Júnior, Real Madrid C.F. and other people who felt denigrated and offended by their behavior," the statement read.

"This is the first conviction for acts of this nature handed down by criminal courts and tribunals.

"Real Madrid, which participated in this prosecution together with Vinícius Júnior, will continue working to protect the values of our club and eradicate any racist behavior in the world of football and sport."

- Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez

VINICIUS JÚNIOR SCORES 2 TO EARN MADRID DRAW IN RETURN TO VALENCIA SINCE RACIAL ABUSE

AP Photo 

 BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Vinícius Júnior scored twice to lift Real Madrid to 2-2 against Valencia in the Spanish league on Saturday in his first return to Mestalla Stadium where he was racially abused last season.

Jude Bellingham was red-carded after the final whistle when he protested the referee's decision to waive off what would have been the winning goal. The referee said time expired just before Bellingham's last-gasp header.

Vinícius struck in the 50th and 76th minutes to wipe out first-half goals by Hugo Duro and Roman Yaremchuk.

Last May’s racial attack was among the worst the Black player has had to repeatedly endure in Spain. It led to an upswell of support for the Brazil forward and forced soccer authorities to take action, even though the abuse toward him has continued.

While there were no immediate reports of more racial insults on Saturday, a large group of spectators did chant “Vinícius is stupid” and booed him loudly throughout.

After his first goal, Vinícius held up his fist toward the Valencia fans behind the goal. After his equalizer, he cupped his ears as if asking for more from the fans who jeered him.

While Valencia banned three fans for life from its stadium after they were identified as having racially abused Vinícius last season, the club has likewise criticized the player and Madrid for what it considers the unfair categorization of its fanbase as predominantly racist.

In a short interview with Madrid's club television, Vinícius did not mention the fans and said only that it was “a very difficult game.” But on his Instagram account he posted an image of himself raising his fist after his first goal with the short message “The fight continues.”

“Vinícius played a very good game,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “He was decisive for us, even though he was more effective in the area than outside it. (Defender Dimitri) Foulquier played a great game defending him, so he had to find his spaces inside the area and he scored two very important goals for us.”

Madrid leads the league with a seven-point advantage over Girona and a nine-point advantage over Barcelona before they both play games on Sunday.

Duro used his head to redirect in what looked like an errant shot by Fran Pérez in the 27th after Federico Valverde lost the ball with a risky pass.

Three minutes later, Yaremchuk intercepted Dani Carvajal’s pass back toward his own area, where the Ukraine forward pounced, dribbled around goalkeeper Andriy Lunin and rolled the ball home.

But Madrid was able to grab one back in first-half added time when Carvajal’s cross grazed three players before finding Vinícius to push it home. Vinícius made it even when he headed in a cross from substitute Brahim Díaz.

Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby was carried off on a stretcher after an apparent leg injury when Aurélien Tchouaméni crashed into him in the final minutes.

TIM ANDERSON REACTS TO RACIAL ABUSE FROM RACIST JOSH DONALDSON