Photo: AP
During the team's 4-0 Clasico loss on Saturday, Real Madrid condemned racism from some of their fans directed at Barcelona players, particularly teenagers Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal. The government also denounced the abuse, and La Liga promised to report the incidents to Spanish authorities.
"Real Madrid strongly condemns any kind of behaviour involving racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the corners of the stadium," said Los Blancos in a statement Sunday.
Following the match, videos of racist taunts directed against Barcelona players surfaced on social media. Yamal, a 17-year-old Spain star, was singled out during a goal celebration after becoming the youngest Clasico scorer.
The Spanish champions said they had "opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults", AFP reported.
"La Liga will immediately report the racist insults and gestures directed at Barcelona players to the hate crime unit of the national police," said the Spanish top flight in a statement.
According to the Spanish Sports Council (CSD), the case will be discussed at a meeting of their Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Sport on Monday.
"The Clasico is one of the greatest spectacles in the world, a true expression of the importance that football has in our country," said the CSD in a statement.
"In it, as in any other sporting event, there can never be any room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance."
"Neither racism, nor insults, nor violence have a place in our country's sport," wrote Pilar Alegria, Spain's minister for education, professional development and sports on social media platform X.
Elma Saiz, Spain's minister for inclusion and migration, also offered support to Yamal.
"The racist insults aimed at Lamine Yamal in the Clasico are everything we in the government will fight against," she wrote on X.
"We will not allow attacks that we do not tolerate in other spaces to become normalised in sport.”
Racism is a problem for Spanish football in stadiums all around the nation. Since coming to Spain in 2018, Vinicius Junior, a striker for Real Madrid, has been singled out on multiple occasions and has emerged as a leader in the battle against racism.
When the Brazilian winger faced Valencia fans in May 2023 after being subjected to taunts at their Mestalla stadium, he garnered international backing. As a result, three Valencia supporters received eight-month prison sentences in June.
A banner with the words "Madrid hates Real" and an effigy wearing a Vinicius shirt was discovered hanging from a bridge close to the team's practice area in January 2023.
Four Atletico Madrid supporters were charged with the incident in December, and the prosecution is asking for four-year jail sentences. Four individuals were detained by Spanish police this week on suspicion of launching a hate campaign against Vinicius online.