Mallorca fans on Sunday were caught on camera engaging in abhorrent racial abuse toward Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr. at the Son Moix stadium, where the underdogs shocked the La Liga holders with a 1-0 upset victory.
Supporters could be heard calling the 22-year-old Brazilian player a monkey in a video published by streaming company DAZN on social media.
Mallorca did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a radio interview, club manager Javier Aguirre denied that his players had targeted Vinicius in the ill-tempered match, in which the Brazilian suffered 10 fouls, the most endured by any player in La Liga this season.
Vinicius has been subjected to racial abuse by fans on at least three occasions – at Camp Nou against Barcelona in November 2021, at Atletico in September 2022 and at Valladolid in late December 2022.
Spanish police are also investigating a possible hate crime against the Brazilian after a mannequin wearing his No. 20 shirt was hung from a bridge in front of the club's training center ahead of the Madrid derby two weeks ago.
The mannequin was hung next to a banner in Atletico Madrid's red and white colors that read "Madrid hates Real" during the early hours of Jan. 26, police said.
Prosecutors in Madrid decided not to press charges over racist chanting aimed at Vinicius in September after finding it had "lasted a few seconds" and had not constituted a crime.
In December, Vinicius accused La Liga of continuing to do nothing about racist fans at matches, after videos on social media showed some shouting abuse and throwing objects at him during a match the previous day at Valladolid.
Pele, Neymar and other leading Brazilian figures leaped to the defense of Vinicius in September after a panelist on a Spanish soccer show criticized the forward.
The panelist said Vinicius was not respecting opponents with his celebrations, comparing his behavior to that of a monkey – which immediately sparked a backlash on social media.
Vinicius issued a two-minute video statement at the time in response to what he called a "xenophobic and racist" insult, saying he "won't stop dancing" and that "the happiness of a black Brazilian being successful in Europe bothers" many people.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and Vinicius's teammates have been urging La Liga and authorities to take action to protect the Brazilian from what they are calling "a hunt" by rivals' defenders.
Having suffered 79 fouls so far this season, Vinicius is the most fouled player in Europe's top seven leagues by a big margin, followed by his countryman Neymar at PSG with 59 fouls.