Spain has racism problem, football federation chief says

Spain has a "problem" with racism, the head of the country's football federation said Monday a day after Real Madrid's forward Vinicius Junior was again the target of racist chants during a match.

"We have a problem, we must first recognise that we have a problem of behaviour, of education, of racism," Luis Rubiales told reporters at the federation's headquarters near Madrid.

"As long as there is just one fan, a single undesirable, or group of undesirables who hurl insults over someone's sexual orientation, or skin colour, we have a serious problem."

Vinicius has frequently been singled out for racial abuse in La Liga.

The latest incident came at Valencia's Mestalla stadium during the home team's 1-0 win.

Vinicius stood in front of fans behind the goal and pointed to the apparent culprit and play was delayed for several minutes in the second half.

Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea spoke to stadium officials, who made an announcement calling for racist insults to stop before play resumed 10 minutes later.

The referee wrote in his post-match report that a fan shouted "monkey, monkey" at the player.

Vinicius was sent off in added time at the end of the game for hitting Valencia player Hugo Duro during a brawl.