The Spanish government, La Liga and Real Madrid reacted strongly on Sunday after racist insults were allegedly directed at Barcelona players during Saturday’s match at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Spanish media reported that the 17-year-old Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal, who is of Equatorial Guinean and Moroccan heritage, was targeted with xenophobic and racist abuse. Barcelona beat arch-rivals Real 4-0 with Lamine Yamal among the scorers.
The Spanish supreme sports council (CSD) released a statement condemning racist incidents during the clásico and will meet on Monday to discuss the case.
The state commission against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sports, which is in charge of studying the case, includes the CSD, the Spanish police, the civil guard, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), La Liga and the state attorney general’s office.
“La Liga will immediately report the racist insults and gestures received by Barcelona players to the hate crimes section of the national police information brigade, as well as informing the coordinating prosecutor of the hate crimes and discrimination unit of the state attorney general’s office,” La Liga added in a statement.
“La Liga vehemently condemns the incidents at the Santiago Bernabéu and remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any kind of racist behaviour and hatred inside and outside stadiums.”
Real Madrid said they had opened an investigation to identify the perpetrators so that appropriate action can be taken. “Real Madrid strongly condemns any kind of behaviour involving racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the corners of the stadium,” the club said in a statement.
Barcelona did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Spain’s minister for migration and inclusion, Elma Saiz, also condemned the incident. “We will not allow aggressions that we do not tolerate in other spaces to become normalised in sports,” she said in a statement on Sunday. The RFEF and La Liga have taken steps to tackle an increase in racist abuse with measures including partial stadium closures.
The RFEF also condemned the incident at the Bernabéu and said on Sunday it was enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on racist abuse and violence in stadiums, calling it a “social scourge”.
“The RFEF will work with all the people and institutions that are part of sport and society to put an end to violence and insults in sports venues and events,” the RFEF said.
Four people were arrested and questioned in Spain on Thursday on suspicion of conducting an online hate campaign encouraging fans to racially abuse Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior in the buildup to their match against Atlético Madrid last month.
In June, the magistrate’s court of Valencia issued the first conviction for racist insults in a football stadium in Spain.
In England, Bristol Rovers said they were “infuriated” by racist abuse directed at the forward Shaq Forde after Saturday’s League One match against Reading. Forde was targeted on Instagram after being sent off in the second half of his team’s 1-0 defeat at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
According to Rovers, the message, which was highlighted by the 20-year-old Forde and some of his teammates, contained “abusive and racist language”. The club, who intend to assist a police investigation into the matter, said they are “sick and tired of racist behaviour blighting sport”.
“Shaq is not the only Bristol Rovers player to receive racial abuse, with an incident under investigation only last week,” read a statement on the club website. “Even more sickening is that some of these messages come from individuals claiming to be Bristol Rovers supporters. Each time, the club has sought to act in the appropriate manner.”
Source: theguardian.com
