La Liga & Real condemn racist abuse of Barca players

Teenage forward Lamine Yamal was among Barcelona players targeted by racist abuse during Saturday’s El Clasico against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Videos on social media appear to show the 17-year-old Spaniard being taunted by a section of home fans as he celebrated his 77th-minute goal by pointing to his name on the back of his shirt.

Robert Lewandowski netted twice and Raphinha completed the scoring as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win to move six points above their rivals at the top of La Liga.

Both Real Madrid and La Liga condemned the abuse, but did not specify which Barcelona players had been targeted.

However, Real’s Brazil forward Vinicius Jr mentioned three Barca players – Yamal, Raphinha and Ansu Fati – in a statement on social media platform X.

“It’s regrettable what happened yesterday at the Bernabeu with racist insults,” Vinicius said.

“There is no place for these criminals in our society. All my support to Lamine, Ansu and Raphinha.

“I know that Madrid and the police will do things to identify and punish the guilty!”

A La Liga statement read: “La Liga will immediately report the racist insults and gestures received by Barcelona players to the Hate Crimes Section of the National Police Information Brigade, as well as informing the Co-ordinating Prosecutor of the Hate Crimes and Discrimination unit of the State Attorney General’s office.

“La Liga vehemently condemns the incidents at the Santiago Bernabeu and remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any kind of racist behaviour and hatred inside and outside stadiums.”

Real Madrid earlier said it had opened an investigation to identify the fans responsible.

A club statement read: “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.

“Real Madrid has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken.”

Spain’s migration and inclusion minister Elma Saiz said: “We will not allow aggressions that we do not tolerate in other spaces to become normalised in sports.”

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga have taken steps to tackle an increase in racist abuse by introducing measures including partial stadium closures.

Last week four people were arrested for allegedly conducting an online campaign of hate and racism against Real forward Vinicius.

The campaign encouraged supporters to racially abuse the 24-year-old Brazilian, asking them to wear black face masks to avoid being identified, police said.Three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison in June for abusing Vinicius at a match in May 2023.