La Liga
Factbox: Racism in Spain and La Liga – was Vinicius Jr’s case unusual?
Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr has called La Liga and Spain racist after receiving racial slurs from the stands in Sunday’s defeat at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium.
Spain is not alone in suffering from racism in its stadiums.
Racism has been a long-running problem in Italian football, where authorities have also been criticised for not taking sufficient action. In April, 171 Juventus fans were given stadium bans for chanting racist abuse at Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku during a Coppa Italia semi-final earlier that month.
France national team players, including star forward Kylian Mbappe, were racially abused online after they lost the World Cup final to Argentina, and England’s Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka were similarly abused after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final.
The following are some of the most significant episodes involving racism in recent Spanish football:
APRIL 2000
Malaga’s Dario Silva faced battery charges after punching an Oviedo fan who had allegedly hurled anti-Black slurs at him when the Uruguayan striker declined to sign autographs.
NOVEMBER 2004
During a Spain-England friendly at the Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, England’s Andy Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Jermaine Jenas, Jermain Defoe and Shaun Wright-Phillips were subjected to racist chants imitating monkey noises by Spanish fans. FIFA imposed a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,498.59) on the Spanish football federation RFEF.
NOVEMBER 2004
Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o received a yellow card after lobbing a ball at Getafe fans following monkey noises from the stands. The Cameroonian would go on to celebrate some of his goals that season by making ape-like gestures parodying the racist chants.
MARCH 2005
Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope punched an “ultra” fan from his own club, Malaga, after a small group hurled racist slurs at him and made monkey noises following a match against Real Betis.
APRIL 2005
A banana was flung at Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon stadium.
FEBRUARY 2006
Barca’s Eto’o threatened to leave the pitch in protest against racist chants at Real Zaragoza’s La Romareda stadium, though ultimately stayed on. The club was fined 9,000 euros ($9,907.20).
APRIL 2014
Barcelona defender Dani Alves had a banana thrown at him as he was about to take a corner kick at Villarreal’s El Madrigal stadium. Alves peeled the fruit and took a bite. A 26-year-old man was later arrested and charged with a “breach of fundamental rights and civil liberties”, fined 6,000 euros and banned from attending football matches for two years. Villarreal were also fined 12,000 euros.
AUGUST 2016
Referee Carlos Clos temporarily suspended a match between Sporting Gijon and Athletic Bilbao after racist chants against Bilbao striker Inaki Williams. RFEF’s Competition Committee ordered the partial closure of one of the stadium’s stands.
DECEMBER 2019
A second-division match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete became the first to be cancelled because of offensive chants directed at players. Left-wing Rayo ultras had called Albacete’s Roman Zozulya – a white Ukrainian striker – a “nazi”. La Liga backed the referee’s decision saying it was “against all racism and xenophobia” in football.
JANUARY 2020
Racist chants against Bilbao’s Williams at Espanyol’s Cornella-El Prat stadium sparked the first xenophobic hate crime trial in Spanish football, with only one fan indicted. Prosecutors are seeking two years in prison, a fine and a stadium ban for him in the ongoing trial.
APRIL 2021
Valencia’s Mouctar Diakhaby said rival player Juan Cala cast racist insults at him at the Ramon de Carranza stadium in Cadiz. The entire Valencia squad left the pitch for a few minutes but later returned without the French defender to avoid a penalty. La Liga later said it had found no evidence Cala directed racist language at Diakhaby.
JANUARY 2023
Spanish police launched a hate crime investigation after an effigy wearing Vinicius Jr’s No. 20 shirt was hung from a bridge in front of Real Madrid’s training ground ahead next to a banner in Atletico Madrid’s red and white colours that read “Madrid hates Real”.
FEBRUARY 2023
La Liga filed a legal complaint after Vinicius Jr was racially abused by Real Mallorca supporters. In response, Mallorca withdrew a fan’s membership card for three years.
-Reuters
Barcelona turned the Clasico into a coronation on Sunday, swatting aside Real Madrid 2-0 at a roaring Camp Nou to claim their 29th LaLiga title.
Hansi Flick’s side moved to an unassailable 91 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real with three games remaining.
The triumph capped a dominant campaign in which they lost only four league matches. Villarreal are third on 69 points.
Real arrived needing victory to keep their wafer-thin title hopes alive, but Marcus Rashford crushed those aspirations just nine minutes into the game.
Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres just outside the box, and Rashford bent a superb free kick into Thibaut Courtois’ top-left corner, giving Barcelona the early lead and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Nine minutes later, Barcelona doubled the lead. Fermin Lopez crossed into the area, and Dani Olmo produced a clever backheel that sent the ball into the path of Torres, who rifled a fierce strike into the top corner.
The win completed back-to-back league titles for Flick, who also delivered the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double in his first season last year.
Both sides were heavily depleted. Barcelona were without Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Jules Kounde from the starting lineup.
Real’s list of missing players was longer, with Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Arda Guler and Rodrygo all absent. Federico Valverde also missed out after suffering a head injury following a midweek changing-room fight with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni, with both players fined 500,000 euros over the incident.
Kylian Mbappe did not travel because of a leg muscle injury, forcing manager Alvaro Arbeloa to start Vinicius Jr alongside academy striker Gonzalo, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz pushing forward in support.
Real threatened through Vinicius and Gonzalo before halftime, but Barcelona carried the greater menace. Courtois kept the visitors alive with fine saves from Torres and Rashford before the interval.
Barcelona continued to press after the break, Rashford repeatedly tormenting left back Fran Garcia down the right, while Courtois produced another sharp stop with his left foot to deny Torres from point-blank range in the 56th minute.
Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside in the 62nd minute, and Joan Garcia was quick to deny Vinicius in a one-on-one, preventing the Brazilian from lifting the ball over him.
Real kept probing late on, but there was little bite in their attack, and Barcelona calmly saw out the win before the title celebrations began.
“This title is even more special because we won it at home against Real Madrid. Now it’s time to enjoy it with the fans,” Frenkie de Jong told Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus.
“Every title has to be celebrated in style. Especially LaLiga, which is a year-long competition. We’ve clearly been the best in Spain.”
-Reuters
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Real Zaragoza goalkeeper Esteban Andrada was sent off for punching Huesca captain Jorge Pulido in a fiery Spanish second division clash on Sunday that descended into a mass brawl, with Huesca keeper Dani Jimenez dismissed for punching Andrada.
Zaragoza’s Dani Tasende was also dismissed after a VAR review of the brawl.
With tensions simmering in a relegation scrap, Argentine Andrada lost his composure moments before the final whistle. Ignoring the run of play, he approached Pulido and struck him in the face with his right hand, sparking chaotic scenes eight minutes into stoppage time.
It was an ugly flashpoint in a match already short on finesse and heavy on nerves, and could carry serious consequences for the goalkeeper.
Huesca manager Jose Luis did not attempt to defend the scenes.
“It’s hard to explain; I think it’s a complete loss of control. I can put myself in their shoes, given what was at stake and all. But it’s unjustifiable. It’s just that I don’t know what to do or how to stop it; a brawl breaks out,” he said.
“It’s ugly; this was supposed to be a celebration of Aragonese football. I’d like people to talk about the match, even though it was ugly, with little play but a lot of hard work.”
Oscar Sielva’s goal secured a 1-0 win for Huesca, lifting them to 36 points in 19th place, while Zaragoza remain second-bottom on 35.
-Reuters
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Joan Laporta has been re-elected as Barcelona president after winning over 68 percent of the vote and will begin his second consecutive term, and fourth overall, from July 1, the club said on Sunday.
The 63-year-old took office in March 2021 and stepped down last month in line with club statutes in order to seek re-election.
Laporta described the election as a “celebration of democracy and civic responsibility” and said the tasks ahead included finishing work on the Camp Nou and strengthening the men’s team.
-Reuters
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