Following reports that racial taunts were hurled at Barcelona players during Saturday’s game at the Santiago Bernabéu, the Spanish government, La Liga, and Real Madrid all responded forcefully on Sunday.
According to Spanish media, Lamine Yamal, a 17-year-old Barcelona forward of Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean ancestry, was the focus of racist and xenophobic taunts. Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 4-0, including goals by Lamine Yamal.
The Spanish Supreme Sports Council (CSD) will meet on Monday to consider the subject after issuing a statement denouncing racist events that occurred during the clásico.
The CSD, the Spanish police, the civil guard, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), La Liga, and the state attorney general’s office are all part of the state commission against violence, racism, xenophobia, and intolerance in sports, which is responsible for investigating the matter.
In a statement, La Liga further stated that it would promptly notify the coordinating prosecutor of the state attorney general’s office’s hate crimes and discrimination unit and the hate crimes section of the national police information brigade about the racist remarks and gestures that Barcelona players had received.
“La Liga strongly denounces the events at the Santiago Bernabéu and is steadfast in its resolve to end all forms of racism and hatred within and outside of stadiums.”
In order to take the proper action, Real Madrid announced that they had launched an inquiry to find the offenders. “Real Madrid deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the stadium’s corners, and strongly condemns any kind of behavior involving racism, xenophobia, or violence in football and sport,” the team stated in a statement.
A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately answered by Barcelona.
Elma Saiz, Spain’s minister of migration and integration, also denounced the event. In a statement released on Sunday, she declared, “We will not allow aggressions that we do not tolerate in other spaces to become normalized in sports.” The RFEF and La Liga have implemented measures, such as partial stadium closures, to address the rise in racial abuse.
In addition to denouncing the Bernabéu incident, the RFEF declared on Sunday that it was implementing a zero-tolerance policy on racist violence and abuse in stadiums, referring to it as a “social scourge.”
“To end violence and insults in sports venues and events, the RFEF will collaborate with all individuals and organizations that are a part of sport and society,” the RFEF stated.
Four people were detained and interrogated in Spain on Thursday on suspicion of running an internet hate campaign in the lead-up to Real Madrid’s match against Atletico Madrid last month that encouraged supporters to make racist remarks about the Brazilian player Vinícius Júnior.
The first conviction for racial comments in a Spanish football stadium was handed down by the Valencia magistrate’s court in June.
Following Saturday’s League One encounter against Reading, Bristol Rovers in England expressed their anger at racist taunts aimed at forward Shaq Forde. Following his dismissal during the second half of his team’s 1-0 loss at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, Forde became the victim of hate mail on Instagram.
The 20-year-old Forde and a few of his teammates emphasized the message, which Rovers claimed featured “abusive and racist language.” The club stated that they are “sick and tired of racist behavior blighting sport” and plans to support a police probe into the incident.
According to a statement posted on the club website, “Shaq is not the only Bristol Rovers player to receive racial abuse, with an incident under investigation only last week.” The fact that some of these texts are from people posing as Bristol Rovers supporters is even more disgusting. The club has always made an effort to behave appropriately.
