La Liga wants change to Spanish law to curb racism
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Players and match officials holding a banner reading "Racists, out of football" at half-time during the match between Real Valladolid and Barcelona on May 23.
PHOTO: AFP
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MADRID – The Spanish La Liga has urged changes to the country’s law that would enable the league to take steps to curb racism in stadiums, as police on Tuesday detained seven men over separate alleged hate crime incidents against Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti lambasted Spain’s “obsolete” protocols to deal with racism in the sport after his Brazilian winger was racially abused in Sunday’s 1-0 La Liga loss to Valencia. He added that he would consider taking his players off the pitch if they were abused again during a game.
Puma, sponsor of both Valencia and La Liga, also offered its support to Vinicius, as did Spanish bank Santander, whose title sponsorship with La Liga ends after this season.
But La Liga said on Tuesday that it felt “impotent” to tackle the issue as Spanish legislation limited its actions to merely detecting and reporting racist incidents.
It urged that the law be modified so it could cancel matches and ban fans from stadiums if racist behaviour is detected.
“La Liga is extremely frustrated by the lack of sanctions and convictions by sporting disciplinary bodies, public administrations and the jurisdictional bodies to which complaints are made,” it said.
“La Liga will request more sanctioning powers, with the aim of being more agile and effective in the fight against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport.”
A hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No. 20 jersey of winger Vinicius was hung from a bridge in front of the club’s training grounds in January.
Four men were arrested in Madrid in that case, police said, while three others were detained in Valencia for racist conduct aimed at Vinicius in Sunday’s match.
Vinicius had previously expressed frustration that La Liga has not exerted pressure on the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which have the power to apply stadium closures and bans.
Following Sunday’s incident, Valencia’s south stand will be partially closed for five matches and the club fined €45,000 (S$65,000), the RFEF announced on Tuesday.
However, more needs to be done if racism in stadiums is to be dealt with. The RFEF can cancel a match if racist insults continue after a 10-minute period in which the game is paused and the crowd warned. To date, this has not been enforced on any match in Spain.
Vinicius was particularly aggrieved by comments made by La Liga president Javier Tebas on Sunday, when he accused the player of failing to turn up for meetings so that it could explain what it has been doing to address racism.
The Brazilian was initially receptive to a meeting if it was held behind closed doors, according to sources, but turned it down believing Tebas was seeking publicity by holding it at its Madrid offices.
La Liga declined to comment on the proposed meeting with Vinicius while the RFEF did not respond to a request for comment about its powers to cancel matches. But both bodies said on Tuesday they were launching a campaign until the end of the season against racism.
The RFEF also said that Vinicius’ red card in Sunday’s match has been rescinded as the “referee’s assessment was determined by the omission of the entirety of the play that took place” – an incident in which Vinicius struck an opponent but he also appeared to be grabbed around the neck. REUTERS
