Vinicius shares ‘mafia’ refereeing post after hair-pulling red card
The Real Madrid forward reposted a fan account’s refereeing complaint, covering its “mafia” wording with laughing emojis.
Vinicius Junior shared a fan account’s post questioning his treatment by referees after being sent off for pulling an opponent’s hair against Villarreal.
The Real Madrid forward reposted a collage of incidents involving him on Instagram Stories. Its caption complained: “And the one who always gets a yellow or red card is Vinicius. What a disgrace, what a mafia!”
Those words came from the original account. Vinicius added three laughing emojis, covering the “mafia” wording while leaving the rest of the complaint visible. The collage highlighted challenges against him in previous matches, questioning the disciplinary treatment of those incidents.
Repost followed apology for Villarreal dismissal
Vinicius had already apologised to his teammates and supporters after Madrid’s 1-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
“Sorry to my team and my fans,” he wrote on Instagram following the match.
He came on as a second-half substitute and appeared to double Madrid’s lead, only for a VAR review to identify his hair-pull on Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba in the build-up. The goal was disallowed and Vinicius received a straight red card.
His protests then required teammates to hold him back. The referee’s report described an aggressive reaction to the decision, leaving the disciplinary outcome significant ahead of Madrid’s forthcoming Clasico against Barcelona.
