Barcelona spark racism storm as Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr told he 'deserves a slap'

Barcelona have been caught up in a racism storm after it emerged one of their employees allegedly unleashed a rant about Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior on social media. The incident allegedly took place during Madrid’s Champions League 2-1 win over Braga on Tuesday night, with a tweet from Mikel Camps, who is employed as an executive board spokesperson, claiming the Brazilian winger ‘deserved a slap’.

In an extraordinary social media rant, which was swiftly deleted from his profile, Camps claimed that Vinicius had not been a victim of racist abuse and said the 23-year-old ‘deserved a slap’ for being a ‘clown’.

He wrote the tweet in Catalan, which translated in English to: “It’s not racism, he deserves a slap for being a clown. These stepovers are unnecessary and meaningless on a football pitch.”

It comes after Sevilla announced they had removed a supporter from their ground during their 1-1 draw with Madrid on Saturday after they targeted Vinicius. But this incident could have bigger repercussions due to the bitter rivalry between Spain’s two biggest clubs.

Camp’s comments caused outrage amongst football fans on social media, as Vinicius has been the target of several instances of racism from opposition fans since his rise to stardom in Spain. 

In one case, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez was one of those to send a message of support to the attacker last season in May after he was abused again in a game against Valencia.

Express Sport has contacted Barcelona for comment.