Vinicius Jr was sent off during Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat by Valencia on Sunday evening after he was subjected to discriminatory comments from spectators, with Rio Ferdinand slamming LaLiga authorities for failing to protect the forward.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side went a goal down ten minutes before half time, with Diego Lopez tapping in a well-worked move from the home side.

Madrid then pressed late on in a bid to score an equaliser, but the game was paused for several minutes after the winger claimed to receive racist abuse from spectators sitting behind the goal.

The 22-year-old, who joined the club in 2018 from Brazilian side Flamengo, has been subjected to racial abuse multiple times this season and has previously expressed his frustrations towards LaLiga authorities at their lack of action to stamp out the discrimination.

The game was paused and the referee came to speak to the fourth official and coaches on the touchline, before play was resumed again.

Soon after, things took an unsavoury turn as the winger was shown a red card after he appeared to strike Hugo Duro following a mele inside the penalty area.

Those in the crowd were warned over the tannoy system that the game would be suspended should they continue to direct abuse towards the players.

After the match, the winger posted an Instagram story expressing his upset at the events that had happened during the match.

‘It wasn’t the first time, not the second and not the third. Racism is normal in La Liga,’ he wrote. ‘The competition thinks it’s normal, so does the Federation and the opponents encourage it. I am soo sorry.’

‘The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi, today belongs to the racists.

‘A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and I love, but which accepted to export the image to the world from a racist country.

‘Sorry for the Spaniards who do not agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately with everything that happens on a weekly basis, I have no way to defend.

‘I agree. But I’m strong and will go to the end against the racists. Even though its far from here.’

Former Manchester United defender, Ferdinand, also took to Instagram to criticise LaLiga authorities for failing to protect the young winger.

He wrote on his story: ‘Bro you need protecting… Who is protecting Vinicius Jr in Spain?

‘He receives a red card after bein choked and receiving racial abuse during the game…wtf.

‘How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this s***? I see pain, I see disgust, I see him needing help… and the authorities don’t do shit to help him.

‘People need to stand together and demand more from the authorities that run our game. No one deserves this, yet you are allowing it.

‘There needs to be a unified approach to this otherwise it will be swept under the carpet AGAIN.’

Ferdinand then tagged several big players in the story, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham, before saying, ‘Everyone… stand together loud and proud.’

It is the first career red card the Brazilian has ever received, but unfortunately, it is not the first time he has had abuse directed his way.

And following the match, his manager, Carlo Ancelotti, claimed he did not want to talk about football following the game.

When asked by a reporter what he wanted to speak about he said: ‘[I want to talk] About what happened here.

‘I think that’s more important. More important than a defeat, don’t you? I’m calm, but what happened today shouldn’t happen. For a stadium to shout “monkey” at a player and for a coach to think about taking him off for that… There’s something wrong with this league.

‘He didn’t want to play on,’ the Italian added, when asked what Vinicius Jr told him following the incident. ‘I told him that I didn’t think it was fair, it wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t to blame.

‘He continued playing, and he also got a senseless red card. That said, we have a problem.

‘For me, Vinícius is one of the best in the world. These episodes of racism can’t happen, it was the whole stadium, not just one person, as on other occasions. It has to be stopped. And I would say the same if we won 3-0.’

LaLiga had filed a complaint in court back in February after Vinicius Jr was racially abused during Real Madrid’s 1-0 win against Mallorca.

More recently, spectators during Real Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Barcelona at the Nou Camp directed abuse towards the forward, and that prompted LaLiga to file their eighth complaint to the authorities while setting up a dedicated complaints channel that fans can use to identify abusers.

In a statement, the league’s governing body condemned the racist abuse towards Vinicius Jr as ‘intolerable’.

It read: ‘In view of the events that took place at the FC Barcelona-Real Madrid match, in which intolerable racist behaviour was once again observed against Vinicius Jr, LaLiga has reported the racist insults to the Barcelona Court of Instruction.

‘This is the eighth complaint filed by LaLiga with the corresponding authorities for racist abuse against Vinicius Jr.’

The winger has scored 23 times in 53 games across all competitions for the Spanish giants.