October 28 – Real Madrid, the Spanish league and the government have joined forces to condemn racist insults against Barcelona’s teenage star Lamine Yamal during Saturday’s ‘clasico’ with Real launching an investigation into who was responsible.
The 17-year-old, who is of Equatorial Guinean and Moroccan heritage, was allegedly targeted with xenophobic and racist abuse as he celebrated his 77th-minute goal – the third in Barca’s 4-0 win – by pointing to his name on the back of his shirt.
“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,” Real said in a statement on Sunday.
Real added it “has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken.”
The league said it “vehemently condemns these events” and “remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any kind of racist behaviour and hatred inside and outside stadiums. There is no place for this scourge in sport.”
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga have taken steps in recent weeks, seemingly without much success, to tackle an increase in racist abuse with measures including partial stadium closures.
Four people were arrested and questioned on Thursday on suspicion of conducting an online hate campaign encouraging fans to racially abuse Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr in the build-up to their match against Atletico Madrid last month.
In a landmark judgement in June, three Valencia fans were each sentenced to eight months in prison for hate crimes against Vinicius Jr – the first conviction for racist insults in a football stadium in Spain.
In its own statement on Saturday’s incident, the Spanish government said the clasico was “one of the greatest spectacles in the world, a true expression of the importance that football has in our country. During this game, or in any sporting event, there can never be any room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance.”
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