Barcelona board member launches scathing attack on Vinicius Jr.: “He deserves a slap”

Vinicius Junior has been in the news for some time now due to racial injustice, with various opposition fans hurling racial insults at him time and time again.

Xavi condemns 'strained relations' between Barcelona and Real Madrid after attack on Vinicius on social media

Barcelona coach Xavi has condemned the "current" tensions between Barcelona and Real Madrid ahead of Saturday's El Clasico after a Barcelona board member allegedly attacked Vinicius Junior on social media.

A now-deleted tweet purportedly sent from the account of board member Mikel Campos criticized the Real Madrid forward for his repeated comments during Madrid's Champions League win over Braga Stepping action.

The tweet read: "This is not racist, he deserves a slap for being a clown. What do these unnecessary and pointless steps in the middle of the pitch represent?"

Xavi will also not pay attention to reports that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will not attend Saturday's El Clasico following his tweet.

"If he deletes the tweet ... I'm going to stick with it," Harvey said. "But I don't like anything that creates tension before a game like this. I don't like the tweet and I don't like seeing the referee being pressured.

"I would love to go into El Clasico with the utmost respect between the clubs, even though we admire each other. That's not the case now."

He continued: "Yes (there was too much tension), but it's even worse if you ask me the question (Florentino was present). I'm not obliged to answer the question."

Real Madrid declined to comment on Perez's attendance when contacted by The Athletic.

Barcelona vice-president Raphael Yost also condemned Campos' tweet and vowed that such behavior would not be repeated.

"Even if it was a mistake, it was a bad comment," Yost told Spanish broadcaster Movistar. "It was a huge mistake. If Vinicius is listening to me, I can tell him that this kind of thing doesn't happen It happened again."

Vinicius Junior was racially abused during a La Liga match in Sevilla on Saturday, the latest in a series of incidents of abuse the Brazilian has suffered over the past two seasons. La Liga has taken action in 10 separate incidents, with Vinicius Junior saying after the game that there had been "19 isolated incidents and the list continues to grow".

Tensions between Barcelona and Real Madrid have increased this year following the Negreira case.

Barcelona have faced corruption allegations since March over payments totaling €7.3m (£6.3m; £7.7m at current exchange rates) to José María Henriques Negreira, vice-president of the Spanish Football Referees Council Dollar). Spanish Prosecutor's Office. The case involves payments made between 2001 and 2018.

Negrera denies favoring Barcelona over refereeing decisions. Barcelona have also denied any wrongdoing, saying earlier this year that they hired Negreira as an "external consultant" to provide reports "relevant to professional referees".

In the context of this case, Perez did not participate in last season's El Clasico at Camp Nou in March.

FC Barcelona will face Madrid at the Luis Company Olimpico Stadium on Saturday.