MADRID: Real Madrid has condemned racism from some of its supporters targeting Barcelona players including teenager Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde during the club’s 4-0 defeat in El Clásico on Saturday.
La Liga said it would report the incident to Spanish authorities, while the government also criticized the violations.
Los Blancos said in a statement on Sunday: “Real Madrid strongly condemns any type of racist, xenophobic or violent behavior in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults directed at some fans last night in one of the corners of the stadium.”
Video clips appeared on social media after the match of racist insults targeting Barcelona players, as the 17-year-old Spanish star Yamal was targeted while celebrating a goal after becoming the youngest scorer in El Clásico.
The Spanish champions said that they had “opened an investigation in order to identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults.”
“La Liga will immediately report the insults and racist gestures directed at Barcelona players to the National Police Hate Crimes Unit,” La Liga said in a statement.
The Spanish Sports Council said its committee to combat violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sports would meet on Monday to discuss the issue.
The center said in a statement, “El Clásico is one of the greatest spectacles in the world, and it is a true expression of the importance of football in our country.”
“In it, as in any other sporting event, there can be no room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance,” he added.
“There is no place for racism, nor insults, nor violence in sports in our country,” Pilar Alegría, Spain’s Minister of Education, Professional Development and Sports, wrote on the social media platform X.
Elma Saez, Spain’s Minister of Integration and Immigration, also offered support to Yamal.
“The racist insults directed at Lamine Yamal in El Clásico are all we will fight in the government,” she wrote on X.
“We will not allow attacks that we do not tolerate elsewhere to become normalized in sport.”