Javier Tebas Apologizes

The president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, apologized on Wednesday for the online attacks directed at Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior last Sunday, after the Brazilian player took to social media to complain about the racial insults he faced and the inaction of La Liga. Tebas said in an interview with Reuters, "Well, it seems that the outcome wasn't very good, was it?" referring to his highly criticized comments on Twitter suggesting that Vinicius should look more into what the league is doing to combat racism "before accusing and tarnishing the league." He added, "I tell anyone who understood that this was a mistake because of the manner and timing... that I owe an apology," adding that he didn't intend to attack Vinicius and blaming it on "the heat of the moment." He continued, "I apologize to Vinicius and anyone who understood that I was attacking Vinicius." He expressed feeling "helpless" in addressing racism in football because under Spanish law, the league can only report and disclose incidents of racism, calling for legislative changes to grant him punitive powers to combat racism more effectively.