The Atlético de Madrid has reacted harshly to the Anti-Violence proposal to fine the rojiblanco club with 350,000 euros for fouls considered “very serious” and “for repeated breaches of the access control measures and permanence of spectators” in its stadium. “Since the inauguration of the Wanda Metropolitano stadium and coinciding with those meetings with the greatest influx of fans”, there is “occupation of the evacuation routes and excess capacity in the area of the stadium located in the South End, the location of the stands of animation”.
From the mattress entity they already showed their discomfort with this decision, making it clear that they are willing to appeal even in judicial instances, but later, it has issued an official statement to clarify its position on the matter in which it even shows, with official data from LaLiga, the existing capacity in the south end in last season's matches.
“Given the serious accusations that the Anti-Violence Commission has issued today against Club Atlético de Madrid, we are forced to state the following:
The sanction proposal is arbitrary, unjustified and totally disproportionate. The note issued by the Anti-Violence Commission is full of generalities, does not refer to any specific party, does not provide any specific information and, surprisingly, a sanction proposal is made today, December 3, 2020 when nine months have already passed in which no match with spectators has been held at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Curiously, the other two sanctions proposed to two other clubs that are mentioned in the same note issued, describe in detail specific events that occurred in recent weeks, providing the exact day and a detailed description of the events. In the case of the accusation against Atlético de Madrid, it is surprising that none of this information is provided, as the Anti-Violence Commission usually does, and it only speaks in a generic way.
Atlético de Madrid is accused of having incurred an excess of capacity in the southern bottom tier, specifically in the animation tier. The club categorically affirms that there has never been an excess capacity in any match held at the Wanda Metropolitano, neither in the animation stands nor in any other area of the stadium. This is demonstrated by the data on the real attendance of spectators in each of the 18 games held with spectators during the last 19-20 season, until the pandemic broke out, and which are attached below ”, reads the Atlético statement.
And he continues: “These data come from the computerized access control system managed by La Liga and show that in none of these 18 matches played with the public at the Wanda Metropolitano, did the actual attendance of spectators to that area of the stadium exceed 95% of occupation and, therefore, there was never excess capacity. It should also be noted that only in four parties did the occupancy exceed 80%, specifically in the following parties: 94.89% against Real Madrid, 87.85% against Barcelona, 94.30% against Juventus and 92.16% against Liverpool. In any case, it is also not possible that there would have been an overcapacity, since as is well known, La Liga's computerized access control system prevents the issuance of more access tickets than the total capacity and of each area of the stadium.
Obviously, in all the matches played at the Wanda Metropolitano since its inauguration in September 2017, the capacity of the stadium has been strictly respected and there has never been an excess capacity, as falsely stated in the press release issued by the Anti-Violence Commission that speaks of repeated breaches.
On the other hand, Atlético de Madrid is accused of occupying evacuation routes in the animation stands. Like any club that has an animation stand, in these areas of the stadium where fans are usually standing it is more complex to keep the stairs completely clear at all times. In the case of the Wanda Metropolitano, sometimes there have been difficulties only in the two central staircases and at specific moments of certain matches. However, the Club Atlético de Madrid has repeatedly established the appropriate security devices to eliminate or minimize these situations, taking the appropriate measures. This is demonstrated by the fact that Only in 3 of the 18 matches played last season 19-20 has any reference or incident been reflected in the official match report issued by the National Police Security Coordinator regarding these stairs. Even in some of these minutes the effectiveness of the measures implemented by the club is expressly mentioned and, in others, the efforts made by the club to keep the stairs clear at all times are positively valued.
In any case, it should be remembered that any decision or action of all those who participate in the organization of a match (club, Police, private security, etc …) must be governed by common sense, responsibility and proportionality, avoiding generating situations of risk where there is none.
Therefore, it is evident that the accusation now issued by the Anti-Violence Commission in relation to the occupation routes does not conform to reality, and is incomprehensibly exaggerated and generalized.
THERE WAS NEVER RISK IN THE STADIUM
In addition, it should be noted that at no time has there been a risk of any kind, not even in the parties with the greatest influx of public, since it is public and well-known that the Metropolitan Wanda has wide evacuation routes and large circulation galleries of spectators throughout the stadium, and most prominently in the animation stands where there is a very large terrace that allows a rapid evacuation in just three minutes of all the spectators who are located in said stands.
So, Club Atlético de Madrid categorically rejects the accusations made by the Anti-Violence Commission, will immediately appeal the proposed sanction and will reach as many judicial instances as necessary to demonstrate that the evacuation plans and the Wanda Metropolitano self-protection plan and all the spectator access control measures have been scrupulously complied with at all times. Likewise, the club is going to request an investigation to clarify which organizations or individuals have led to these false and lacking accusations, based on what erroneous information has been based, and what motivations could have led to publish these accusations at this time after almost ten months without an audience in the stadiums.