Spain’s FA condemns Islamophobic chants during game with Egypt
Pre-World Cup friendly in Spain marred by racist and anti-Muslim chants by the home fans.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and coach Luis de la Fuente have condemned anti-Muslim chants that marred the 0-0 draw with Egypt in Barcelona during a pre-World Cup friendly. Egypt’s national anthem was jeered ahead of the game on Tuesday, and the public announcement system at RCDE Stadium appealed to fans more than once to refrain from making offensive comments. It was the latest in a string of similar incidents to overshadow Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular repeatedly racially abused .
“What we’ve done is condemn these kinds of attitudes and to say they must not be repeated,” said Rafael Louzan, president of RFEF. He called them “specific and isolated situations”. De la Fuente also condemned the behaviour of a section of the 35,000-strong crowd.
“It’s intolerable,” he told reporters as soon as he sat down in the media room. “Violent people use football to carve out a space for themselves. “They must be removed from society, identified, and kept as far away as possible,” the 64-year-old added.
The game in Catalonia was moved from Qatar due to the war in the Middle East , and was played out in a hostile environment from the start. The European champions were wasteful in attack in their penultimate friendly on home turf before they face Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H in North America this June and July. Spain are reportedly set to play Iraq on June 4 before playing Peru in Mexico four days later in their final games before the World Cup.