Spanish league president apologizes after comments on Vinícius Júnior

By MAURICIO SAVARESE The Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — The president of the Spanish soccer league has apologized to Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior for his remarks attempting to play down a racist row involving the Brazilian forward on the weekend. Javier Tebas repeated in various interviews with Brazilian TV channels that he was sorry for his comments, saying they were “untimely” and “misunderstood.” Tebas was initially critical of Vinícius in the immediate wake of the racist abuse on Sunday for attacking the league. Tebas had said in a social media post that the Real Madrid star didn’t show up for talks with the league on the subject of racism that he himself had requested.