Gareth Southgate believes the fight against racism in football may have reached a defining moment as the fall-out from the abuse levelled against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in Valencia last weekend continues. The England boss has led calls for stricter punishment since his side came close to walking off the field after some players were subjected to racial abuse during a match in Bulgaria in 2019. Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Sunday’s LaLiga match at the Mestalla after being subjected to alleged monkey chants from the crowd and Real Madrid, who said the incident constituted a “hate crime”, filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office. In response, Valencia were given a partial stadium ban for five matches plus a fine of 45,000 euros (£39,000) – a punishment the club called “totally disproportionate”, while Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja vowed to lead the fight back against what he described as “smears”. Southgate said: “It is a disgusting situation. I think it is so bad that it looks like it is going to force change. I am hoping there will be something positive to come from it. “If anyone suggests to me we don’t have a problem in society with racism then there is another example of what we are dealing with, and more examples of people burying their heads in the sand, quite frankly. “Hopefully it is a story that doesn’t just disappear in 24-48 hours without there being some significant change.” The action by the Spanish football federation (RFEF), who order that Valencia shut the Mario Kempes south stand, where the alleged abuse happened, for five matches, was strongly criticised by the club, who vowed to appeal. That criticism was echoed by Baraja in a prepared statement prior to a press conference on Wednesday, in which he stressed he was “absolutely against racism”, but added: “I am not going to allow the Valencia CF fans and Mestalla to be smeared with labels that do not represent us. “Just as a player rightly fights back against insults and I support that with all my might, we as a club and a fanbase rebel against those who, during the days since the game, have accused us of being what we are not.” Earlier, Valencia had issued a robust statement against the ruling, saying: “Valencia CF wishes to show its total disagreement and indignation at the unfair and disproportionate penalty imposed by the competition committee on the club with the closure of the stand for five games. “Valencia CF wants to publicly denounce that in this resolution of the RFEF competition committee they show evidence that contradicts what the national police and LaLiga say. “In addition, this sanction is based on evidence that the club has not been able to see and without giving us a hearing. Valencia CF will appeal to the last instance the closure of the stand, a sanction that it considers totally unfair and one more offense in the latest disciplinary decisions that have been taken against the club Valencia official statement “Valencia CF has condemned, condemns and will condemn in the most energetic way any act of racism or violence. These behaviours have no place in football or in society and we will continue to act in the most forceful way to eradicate this scourge. “For this reason, Valencia CF is collaborating from the first minute with the police and all relevant authorities to clarify the events that occurred last Sunday. “In addition, it has applied the maximum possible sanction with the expulsion for life from our stadium to the fans that the police have identified for their racist behaviour. “For this reason we consider that penalising and depriving all the fans who were not involved in these unfortunate incidents from seeing their team is a totally disproportionate, unfair and unprecedented measure against which we will fight. “The fight against racism requires the real commitment of all the parties involved without using it as a pretext to incur serious injustices. “Valencia CF will appeal to the last instance the closure of the stand, a sanction that it considers totally unfair and one more offence in the latest disciplinary decisions that have been taken against the club. Valencia CF asks for the utmost respect and rigour for our institution and fans.” In announcing the punishment against Valencia, the RFEF said in a statement: “The competition committee has sanctioned Valencia CF with the partial closure of the Mestalla stadium for five matches, more specifically the Mario Kempes south stand, following the events that occurred during the league match between the local team and Real Madrid CF. “It is considered proven that, as reflected by the referee in his minutes, there were racist shouts at Vinicius, a Real Madrid CF player, during the aforementioned match, altering the normal course of the match and considering the infractions very serious.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Jos Buttler excited to be part of Lancashire’s Vitality Blast campaign No regrets for Eddie Jones as he relishes Twickenham return with Barbarians LTA’s fine for banning players contributes to operating losses of £9.5million

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Former president Donald Trump took credit for the end of abortion rights enshrined under Roe v Wade, which was overturned by the US Supreme Court a year ago. Mr Trump spoke at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health decision. The crowd gave Mr Trump a standing ovation when he referenced the ruling, a long-sought policy outcome of the religious right. “Exactly one year ago today, those justices were the pivotal votes in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision ending the constitutional atrocity known as Roe v Wade,” he said. The twice-indicted and twice-impeached former president said that what differentiated him from other presidential candidates who attended the conference was that he actually facilitated the end of the enshrined right to seek an abortion, which had been the law of the land for half a century. “Conservatives had been trying for 50 years, exactly 50 years,” he said. The former president gave the closing address at the conference which featured every other Republican presidential candidate, including Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former vice president Mike Pence, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and Sen Tim Scott (R-SC). But the former president received the largest applause of any of the candidates, even noting how attendees booed Mr Christie, who has staged a longshot candidacy for president largely to criticise Mr Trump. Many Republicans have feared that the end of Roe v Wade cost Republicans otherwise winnable elections during the 2022 midterms. Indeed a survey from NBC News found that 61 per cent of voters disapproved of the Dobbs decision. Mr Trump made his typical attacks on the so-called “radical left”. “We cannot be afraid to take on the Democratic extremists,” he said. “We have to be strong and powerful. That’s why when I’m re-elected I will continue to fight against the demented late-term abortionist and the Democrat Party who believe in unlimited abortion on demand and even executing babies after birth.” Mr Trump said he would support exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. The former president also said that he would seek a federal role on abortion. But the former president did not articulate what federal restrictions he would support. By contrast, Mr Pence, his former vice president, announced his support for a 15-week national abortion ban. “Some have even gone on to blame the overturning of Roe v Wade for election losses in 2022,” Mr Pence said in his address on Friday. “But let me say from my heart, the cause of life is the calling of our time and we must not rest and must not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in this country.” Mr Trump has long boasted of how he got three conservative Supreme Court justices on the bench, which paved the way to the end of federal abortion rights. But Mr Trump has also criticised his Republican rivals for being too harsh when it comes to reproductive freedom. Mr Trump for his part cited numerous policy strides he made on abortion despite the fact that he spent many years as a Democrat who supported abortion rights. In addition, the former president said he would support measures to promote adoption. “I will ask Congress to expand the adoption tax credit,” he said. “We’ll do that because a lot of people have been adopting and that’s a great thing.” But Mr Trump received even louder applause when he spoke about restricting transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. Numerous Republican legislatures and governors, including Mr DeSantis, have passed and signed legislation both restricting transgender girls’ participation in women’s sports and restricting gender-affirming care for minors. “I will sign into law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states,” he said. “And on day one, I will reinstate the Trump ban on transgenders in the military.” He also went further and said that the federal government would not support gender transition care. Despite recently being indicted, the former president received numerous applause when he brought up the slew of legal investigations and the recent charges against him. Mr Trump had pleaded not guilty to both criminal indictments against him. “Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists communists and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of courage,” he said. The former president event attempted to argue that he was a martyr for the evangelical audience. “I’m getting indicted for you,” he told the crowd. 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