Police in Madrid detain four people who allegedly hung a dummy of Vinicius Jr from a bridge

National Police officers have arrested four people in Madrid on suspicion of hate crime for hanging a mannequin with Vinicius Jr's Real Madrid shirt on it from a bridge.

Three of those arrested are active members of the Frente Atletico, of whom, according to sources consulted by MARCA, only one has a criminal record. The ages of those arrested are 19, 21, 23 and 24.

The events took place at the end of January, in the run-up to the Copa del Rey derby between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

On a bridge next to the IFEMA fairgrounds, in front of Real Madrid's Ciudad Deportiva in Valdebebeas, a banner appeared which read "Madrid hates Real". Right next to the banner was a dummy hanging by the neck (simulating a hanged man) with a Real Madrid shirt and the name Vinicius on its back.

In this case, LaLiga filed a complaint with the 28th Court of Instruction in Madrid, which was accompanied by a report from its integrity and security department, which already pointed to the responsibility of a specific individual.

The investigation

The investigation led to the identification of four men as the presumed perpetrators. In addition, the agents were able to verify that three of the alleged perpetrators belonged to the Frente Atletico and that, previously, they had been identified during matches classified as high risk by those working in the prevention of violence in sport.

Once the four alleged perpetrators had been identified, an operation was carried out on Tuesday morning which led to their arrest, coordinated with the 38th Court of Instruction of Madrid and the Cyber-hate Section of the Provincial Prosecutor's Office.