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6 hours ago
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La Liga side Valencia could opt for legal action against Netflix over their 2025 'Baila, Vini' documentary on Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior.
Netflix have published the one-off documentary which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Los Blancos No.7's life in Spain with production of it handled by Brazilian company Cospiraçao Filmes.
The documentary delves in multiple aspects of Vini Jr's career as one of the world's leading footballers, his upbringing in Brazil and his position as a staunch critic over the rise of racist chanting in La Liga.
The latter subject has caused major controversy for the 24-year-old in recent years as outlined in detail in the documentary.
'Baila, Vini [Dance, Vini]' includes footage of incidents in game at Valencia where alleged racist taunts were aimed at him with the documentary name taking inspiration from his claim that 'he will keep on dancing [in the face of abuse]'.
However, Valencia have responded to Netflix [and Cospiraçao Filmes] with a firm rejection of how the events at their Estadio Mestalla home are portrayed, as the club consider their next option.
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Why are Valencia angry over Vini Jr documentary?
The specifics of Valencia's complaint focus on images, video and subtitling from their clash with Real Madrid on May 21, 2023.
Vini Jr was sent off after the final whistle, as Los Che claimed a 1-0 home win, on a controversial night on Spain's east coast.
A complaint was made multiple times by Vini Jr to the match officials over him being targeted by racist abuse from a pocket of Valencia fans inside the stadium.
As per La Liga's protocol, a stadium tannoy announcement confirmed the game would be paused until the chanting stopped, and play could be restarted.
Real Madrid CF
The game was eventually completed, with Vini Jr angered by the handling of the incident, and Carlo Ancelotti's post-match interview indicated the crowd chanted directly at his player.
Ancelotti later retracted his generalisation by stating 'It's true it was not 46,000, and I apologize for that, but it's not just one or two' as Valencia investigated the incident.
Valencia main criticism centres on a TikTok clip included, which is captioned with the crowd shouting 'monkey, monkey' when it was 'idiot, idiot' and they are demanding an ' immediate rectification' with reports from Relevo indicating legal action is an option.
🦇 Ante la injusticia y falsedades cometidas con la afición del Valencia CF, desde el Club hemos exigido por escrito una rectificación inmediata a la productora del documental por lo ocurrido en Mestalla y que no se corresponde con la realidad. La verdad y el respeto a nuestra… https://t.co/3Xy66YnL3b
— Valencia CF (@valenciacf) May 19, 2025Stadium security staff and local police identified three Valencia fans who made racist gestures towards Vinicius and all three were tried and convicted of racially motivated discrimination.
In addition to sentencing them to eight months' imprisonment, and the payment of legal costs, the trio were banned from accessing football stadiums that host La Liga and Spanish Football Federation matches for two years.
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