Sports
Mourinho boycotts press conference over Vinícius Júnior's red card
October 11, 2026 at 09:58 AM · Updated 5d ago
11 reports · 10 in Arabic, 1 in English · over 19 hours
José Mourinho has skipped the post-match press conference after Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Villarreal, protesting Vinícius Júnior's red card.
- Real Madrid beat Villarreal 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu in La Liga's eighth round on Saturday.
- Mourinho and all players skipped post-match media duties after Vinícius Júnior's 71st-minute red card for pulling Nathan Saliba's hair.
- Mourinho said he would not speak because he wants to be on the bench against Sevilla and Barcelona.
- Vinícius Júnior apologized to his team and fans on Instagram on Sunday.
- Vinícius shared a fan post on Instagram describing the officiating as 'a disgrace' and 'a gang'.
- Real Madrid expect Vinícius to be suspended for the Clásico against Barcelona on October 25.
- A crowd of fans surrounded Vinícius's car outside the Bernabéu, delaying his departure from the stadium.
- The Spanish Football Federation released VAR audio recordings showing the review that led to Vinícius Júnior's red card.
- Cadena COPE journalist Rubén Canizares called Vinícius's action 'stupid' and said he doesn't know the rules of the game.
- Sport columnist Sergio R. Viñas accused Mourinho of playing the victim and hiding Real Madrid's underlying problems.
- Spanish media compared a January 2025 incident in which Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski pulled Vinícius's hair without being sent off, despite holding a yellow card.











