The Frente Atlético fans who hung a Vinicius doll agree to a sentence and will not go to jail.

The four members of the Frente Atlético ultra-right group who hung a doll with Vinicius's jersey have agreed to sentences that include fines, bans, and bans from both the player and football stadiums, although they will not serve time in prison.

With this agreement between the Prosecutor's Office, the defendants, and the prosecution—brought forward by Real Madrid, LaLiga, and the Federation—the four ultras have admitted to the acts, which constitute a hate crime and a threat, and have been sentenced to terms ranging from 14 to 22 months in prison.

Since the sentence was less than two years in prison and the defendants had no prior criminal record, coupled with the fact that the defendants sent a letter to the court apologizing to Vinicius, all parties have agreed to suspend the prison sentence on the condition that the defendant does not reoffend for a period of four years for the first defendant and three for the other three.

"total regret"

At Monday's hearing in the Madrid Court of Appeals, one of the four defendants acted as spokesperson and read before the court the letter in which they publicly apologized and expressed their "total remorse": "We apologize to the player (...) We sincerely regret having hung the doll," one of the accused ultras went so far as to say.

The agreement was possible because Vinicius "expressly" waived compensation for these incidents, according to the presiding judge of the court.

In total, the first defendant faces up to 22 months in prison, while the other three will receive 14 months for the same offenses, as they acted as co-authors, according to the sentence, which was read aloud.

The settlement agreement comes in a session prior to the trial, which will not have to be held, and follows Vinicius's own statement a few months ago, in which he explained via videoconference that he felt offended to learn what the defendants had done, as it was done "out of racism and hatred" for him and Real Madrid, and that he wondered if he or his family "were in danger."

The incident occurred on January 26, 2023, before the Copa del Rey football match between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, when the defendants hung the aforementioned figure along with a banner reading "Madrid hates Real Madrid" near the Real Madrid training complex.

"Rejection of skin color"

The ruling emphasizes that the defendants, whom it links to the ultra-right group Frente Atlético, which ideologically identifies with the far right, acted "motivated by contempt and rejection of the skin color of the victim," Brazilian soccer player Vinicius.

They are also banned from using social media for the duration of their sentence because the image of the hanging doll was posted by one of the ultras on Twitter. They are also prohibited from coming within 1,000 meters of Real Madrid's training complex, as well as from stadiums hosting matches, including those of women's soccer teams or reserve teams.

The first of them has also been fined €1,084 (nine months and one day at four euros per day), and the remaining three have been fined €720 (six months at four euros per day). All of this will be in addition to a mandatory diversity and non-discrimination course, which they will be required to complete at the request of the prosecutor and which is under the jurisdiction of the Penitentiary Institutions.