By Patel Arjun
Real Madrid and football and government authorities voiced disgust over racist abuse hurled at FC Barcelona players in Saturday’s El Clasico. Spain has begun handing down long prison sentences for such acts.
Real Madrid on Sunday strongly condemned the racist behavior of its fans at the El Clasico football match, which saw Madrid thumped 4-0 by rival FC Barcelona on Saturday.
Several Black Barcelona players, including 17-year-old phenom and Spanish national team player Lamine Yamal, faced racist insults during the game.
Yamal, for instance, was targeted with abuse after becoming the youngest player ever to score a goal in El Clasico, the name for the match between Spain’s two biggest clubs.
Real, Spain‘s La Liga and its governing football body RFEF, as well as numerous government and police agencies, all condemned the situation, promising swift and harsh punishment for the perpetrators.
La Liga and governing body strongly denounce ‘scourge’ of racism
Real Madrid on Sunday said it had already launched an investigation, releasing a statement that read: “Real Madrid strongly condemns any kind of behavior 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.”
“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,” read a league statement.
“La Liga vehemently condemns the incidents at the Santiago Bernabeu and remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any kind of racist behavior and hatred inside and outside stadiums.”
The RFEF, Spanish football’s governing body, called racism a “social scourge,” vowing zero-tolerance for racist abuse and violence.
In the past, RFEF and La Liga have gone so far as to close stadiums over such behavior.
Beyond sporting bodies — Spanish government gets involved
Spain’s Minister for Inclusion and Migration Elma Saiz was among those in government to speak out against the incident.
“The racist insults aimed at Lamine Yamal in the Clasico are everything we in the government will fight against,” she wrote on social media platform X. “We will not allow attacks that we do not tolerate in other spaces to become normalized in sport.”
Minister for Education, Professional Development and Sport Pilar Alegria wrote on X: “Neither racism, nor insults, nor violence have a place in our country’s sport.”
Spanish football has long grappled with the issue of racism in its stadiums and has recently gotten help from prosecutors and judges.
In June, three Valencia fans were given eight-month prison sentences for abuse targeting Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr.
Vinicius made headlines and received an outpouring of global support a year earlier for facing down those abusive fans in Valencia’s Mastella Stadium in May 2023.
In December 2023, four Atletico Madrid fans were charged in a separate racist incident targeting Vinicius. Prosecutors are pushing for four-year prison terms for each.
And this week, four more individuals were arrested for their suspected involvement in organizing an online hate campaign against Vinicius.
The Brazilian voiced support for Yamal and his Barcelona teammates, writing on X: “There is no place for these criminals in our society. I know that Madrid and the police will do things to identify and punish the guilty.”
