UEFA clear Atletico Madrid and Barcelona of racist chants against Vinicius Junior

Real Madrid's Brazilian superstar urged UEFA to act over chants which were heard before those clubs' last-16 home ties against Inter Milan and Napoli respectively, but a disciplinary circular issued by UEFA on Thursday made no mention of any sanction related to it.

Instead, the only penalty issued to either club by UEFA's control, ethics and disciplinary body (CEDB) in relation to those matches was a 5,000 euro (£4,289) fine to Atletico for an invasion of the field of play.

UEFA has offered up no explanation for the absence of any sanction in Thursday's list when contacted by the PA news agency, or said whether the chants remain the subject of investigation. European football's governing body also issued no comment at the time social media footage circulated of the chanting.

Atletico and Barca fans were filmed chanting about Vinicius close to their teams' stadiums, rather than inside them, but it is understood UEFA can investigate incidents which occur in a stadium precinct and take reports from other sources into account, in addition to its match delegates.

Vinicius responded to a post on X about the Atletico chants by saying: "I hope you have already thought about their punishment @ChampionsLeague @UEFA.

"It's a sad reality that even happens in games where I'm not present!"

Real announced on March 15 they had filed a complaint with the Spanish legal authorities over the "racist and hateful insults" aimed at the 23-year-old.

Vinicius broke down in tears at a press conference on March 25 when asked about the racist abuse he suffered.

"It's exhausting because you feel like you are alone. I've made so many official complaints, but no one is ever punished," he said.

"More and more I'm losing my desire to play, but I'll keep fighting."

His Real team-mate, England midfielder Jude Bellingham, has also called for more to be done to tackle racism.

"No one deserves that (abuse) so it's a call-out for the people who run the game. I doubt it will happen," Bellingham said.

"You have to play your game and hope the people look after you - they are not doing it well enough at the moment."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has called for a "strong resolution" on racism when FIFA's members meet for the organisation's next Congress in Bangkok on May 17.

Infantino said: "Congress will mark a milestone in FIFA's ongoing efforts to fight racism with new and stricter measures to be applied worldwide in co-operation with all our member associations and the confederations."

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