'Tarnished' Spain probes anti-Muslim chants at Egypt friendly
Egypt's national anthem was jeered ahead of the 0-0 draw with Spain in Barcelona (Lluis GENE) Spanish police on Wednesday said they were investigating "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants that were heard during a Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona, which the prime minister said "tarnish" the country. Egypt's national anthem was also jeered ahead of the 0-0 draw on Tuesday in a pre-World Cup friendly, while authorities at La Liga side Espanyol's RCDE Stadium appealed to fans more than once over the public announcement system 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.
"We are investigating yesterday's Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at RCDE Stadium during the Spain-Egypt friendly match," Catalonia's regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, wrote on X. A section of supporters had chanted: "Whoever doesn't jump is Muslim. " One of Spain's starters during Tuesday's match, forward Lamine Yamal who plays for Espanyol's city rivals Barcelona and is Muslim, slammed the chants as "a lack of respect and something intolerable".
"To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist," the teenage star wrote on Instagram. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned an "unacceptable" incident on X, adding: "we cannot allow an uncivil minority to tarnish the reality of Spain, a diverse and tolerant country. " Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said on X that "racist insults and chants embarrass us as a society".
"The far right will not leave any space free from their hatred, and those who remain silent today will be complicit," he added. - 'Intolerable' - The Egyptian Football Association expressed in a statement its "total condemnation of the vile racist incident" by some spectators who "went beyond the limits". The Spanish Football Federation also condemned the chants, as did most major political parties.
But the leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, took aim on X at political opponents who "get worked up about a chant that is not even an insult, just an expression of identity". The game in Barcelona was moved from Qatar due to the war in the Middle East and was played out in a hostile environment from the start. A message urging fans to stop xenophobic chants and remarks was displayed on the screen at half-time and read aloud by the stadium announcer at the ground.