A South Carolina teen has made history at her private high school after her classmates crowned her the school's first Black homecoming queen.

Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja has said his club will fight back against “smears” after they were handed a five-game partial stadium closure and hefty fine following the racist abuse aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior. Speaking at a press conference, Baraja stressed he was “absolutely against racism”, but echoed Valencia’s earlier claim that the sanction was “unfair and disproportionate”, and 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.” 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 have been ordered to shut the Mario Kempes south stand, where the alleged abuse happened, for five matches and have also been fined 45,000 euros (£39,000) by the Spanish football federation (RFEF). Reacting to that sanction, Valencia said in a strongly worded statement on Tuesday evening: “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 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.” LaLiga players and officials called for racism to be tackled in Spain in the wake of Sunday’s match. Before Tuesday night’s games between Real Valladolid and Barcelona, and Celta Vigo and Girona, players from both sides, as well as the match officials, stood behind banners which read ‘Racism, out of football’. LaLiga shared a pre-match clip from the Celta-Girona game on its official Twitter account with the hashtag #JUNTOSContraElRacismo (#TOGETHERagainstRacism). The footage also showed a supporter holding up a placard with ‘No Al Racismo’ (No to Racism) written on it. There were similar sentiments at the Valladolid-Barcelona game as fans showed their support for Brazil international Vinicius. Barcelona forward Raphinha removed his shirt when substituted to show a message which read: “As long as the colour of the skin is more important than the brightness of the eyes, there will be war.” Vinicius was not included in Real’s 23-man squad for Wednesday night’s LaLiga match against Rayo Vallecano at the Bernabeu. The forward’s red card against Valencia had been rescinded by the RFEF but the 22-year-old did not train on Tuesday, with Real coach Carlo Ancelotti saying the winger had some discomfort in his knee. Read More Jordi Alba to leave Barcelona at end of season Valencia appeal stadium closure for racist chants and demand ‘respect’ for fans Valencia stadium partially shut after racist chants at Vinicius Jr ‘Powerless’ La Liga calls for radical change after Vinicius Jr racist abuse Real Madrid file hate crime complaint after Vinicius targeted by racist abuse Commentator sparks outrage for criticising Vinicius reaction to facing racist abuse

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Eddie Howe is confident there is more to come from Newcastle after they took a point from their Champions League baptism of fire in Milan. The Magpies found themselves under the cosh at the San Siro on Tuesday evening as they opened their Group F campaign with a tough trip to AC Milan and ultimately emerged with a creditable 0-0 draw. Howe’s team will have to be significantly more progressive than they were in Italy if they are to bank the points they will need to progress, with Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund waiting in the wings, but the 45-year-old believes they will be. Asked after the game if the overriding emotion in the dressing room on the final whistle had been exhaustion, disappointment or pride, he said: “It was a mixture of all of those things, definitely pride in the result and the performance, the mentality shown. “Not internally in the squad, the result wasn’t overestimated. They are very honest payers and they acknowledge we can perform better. Yes, a bit of fatigue as well, but we’re now looking forward to our next match. “For us to stand up strong and come back fighting in that second half – because I thought that was a good second half display from us – bodes well for the future. All we can try and do is try and win every game.” But for goalkeeper Nick Pope and a glaring miss from Milan’s Portugal star Rafael Leao, Newcastle could have been in deep trouble by half-time, although having got there on level terms they produced a fine defensive display after the break to plug the gaps through which the Rossoneri had poured during the opening 45 minutes. The mindset was the most important thing. The blocking of the shots, recovery sprints when we are caught out of position was all out of the top drawer Eddie Howe Indeed, they might even have picked the Serie A club’s pocket in stoppage-time when Sean Longstaff forced a fingertip save from substitute goalkeeper Marco Sportiello. Howe said: “There were a few things we changed at half-time. We were looking to tweak a few things. “The mindset was the most important thing. The blocking of the shots, recovery sprints when we are caught out of position was all out of the top drawer, especially when it needed to be in that second half. “We had our moments in transitions going the other way and that’s where the quality was missing, and I’m a little bit frustrated with that. As I say, we will look to improve.” Howe will now turn his attention to Sunday’s Premier League trip to Sheffield United, with opposite number Stefano Pioli, whose side lost 5-1 to derby rivals Inter last weekend, also able to take positives from a display which promised much but did not deliver the outcome he craved. Pioli, who also lost goalkeeper Mike Maignan and midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek to injury, said: “I liked the performance, I liked the attitude. We attacked very well, we defended well, we showed that we were full of energy through the whole 90 minutes. “We were as intense as they were – actually, we were more intense than they were – but we couldn’t win, and that’s a pity. “Now we have to move on. There are very important games in Serie A and then we will have to play against Borussia Dortmund.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Football rumours: Ivan Toney targeted for £60m January move by London trio On this day in 2005: Neil Lennon banned after barging referee in Old Firm derby Ireland won’t change approach against South Africa ‘Bomb squad’ – Caelan Doris

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