The FC Barcelona striker, targeted by Real Madrid supporters at the Santiago Bernabéu in 2024, is an emblematic figure of online hatred in Spain.
The scourge of racism has increased in recent years in stadiums and, it seems, also online, within Spanish football, and has recently been the subject of greater visibility and criminal sanctions. Vinicius Junior, who receives the second highest number of racist attacks online, has become the face of the fight against this scourge.
Lamine Yamal is the main target of racist insults on social networks.
The study, carried out by the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe), uses an artificial intelligence system called FARO to detect racist attacks. Last season, 33,438 reportable content attacks were recorded. El País published its findings, which revealed that Lamine Yamal received 60% of all racist insults online. Between the FC Barcelona star and Vinicius (29%), they represent almost 90% of racist attacks. Kylian Mbappé, Alejandro Baldé, Brahim Diaz and Iñaki Williams are also among the most frequent targets.
The study reveals that players from FC Barcelona (32%) and Real Madrid (34%) are by far the most targeted, followed by those from Real Valladolid (17%), Valencia (8%), Athletic Club (6%), Real Sociedad (5%) and Atlético de Madrid (5%).
Twitter/X: the worst in the fight against racism
Among the sites analyzed, Oberaxe found that Facebook was the most active in the fight against racism. Racist comments and posts were deleted in 62% of cases. On the other hand, Twitter/X is the least efficient site in this area. Elon Musk’s platform only removes 10% of content reported for racist comments.
La Liga has stepped up its efforts to combat racism in stadiums, but in a global context, many believe that the sanctions imposed by the Spanish authorities are neither consistent nor severe enough to act as a deterrent.
