MADRID, Jan. 26 (SportsFinding) –
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) considered the racist chants that Athletic Club striker Iñaki Williams received this Saturday at RCDE Stadium “of extreme gravity” and warned that they were not reflected in the arbitration record nor could any of them be taken. the measures provided by law because there was no “direct knowledge” by any of the parties charged until after the game.
“The RFEF considers that the racist attitudes or chants performed yesterday at the RCD Espanyol stadium by a very small number of people in the RCD Espanyol hobby are, by themselves, and regardless of the number of people who they uttered, of extreme gravity, “said the RFEF this Sunday.
The agency indicated that what happened in Barcelona “shows that in Spanish society there are still small groups of highly intolerant and uncivil people, deserving of exemplary punishment and the most complete collective social rejection” and that it would put the matter in the hands of the National Anti-Violence Commission “for the purpose of adopting the relevant measures”.
In addition, he stressed “the effort and dedication” of the Catalan club, “not only to eradicate this type of performance of their fans, but also to identify the authors of such actions, absolutely reprehensible for the purpose of being able to apply against them , the most severe disciplinary sanctions. “
However, and “for the sake of transparency” and “for general knowledge”, the RFEF recognizes “that during the celebration of the meeting none of the referees or assistants noticed any action in this regard” and that he was an Athletic player ( Muniain) the one who addressed the colleague Sánchez Martínez to point out that “as he had said” the affected one himself, he had been “treated in a vexatious manner”.
“The referee of the meeting told him that he had not noticed anything and that at that time Mr. Williams was already in the tunnels of the locker room,” said the entity. “In addition, in the post-match meeting, the referee asked the Federative Delegate if he had seen or noticed something, answering that no,” he added.
“Neither the referee nor the Federal Delegate received any notification from the Stadium Security Coordinator in this regard and, finally, the Federal Delegate, as is his obligation to reflect it in the minutes, asked the head of LaLiga if he had received something about this issue, also being his negative response. Later, he said he had heard some rumor about the matter but that at that time he did not know, “said the RFEF.
For this reason, “hours later”, the Delegate of the League, “after having watched a video that had been sent to him,” he informed the Federative Delegate that “he would record it in his report because he could see it in that video that had been provided. ” “The aforementioned report has not yet reached the RFEF,” said the body chaired by Luis Rubiales.
“The facts do not appear in the minutes of the meeting because neither the referee during it, nor the assistant of the referee, nor the Federative Delegate, nor even the Delegate of LaLiga had any direct knowledge of such racist and intolerant attitudes or songs during the meeting, “said the RFEF, which reiterated its” full confidence in all the arbitrators who are acting, at all times, with absolute professionalism and complying in a correct way and adjusted to the circumstances of each moment the protocols established for this type of situations. “
REMINDER OF WHAT THE PROTOCOL PROVIDES
Thus, the federation also recalled the provisions of the Protocol against Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Football, which details that “when the referees consider that offenses or racist, xenophobic or intolerant behaviors are extremely serious, and before to adopt the decision to suspend the party, they will exhaust the routes directed to obtain that its celebration continues “.
“In this sense, they will consult on the advisability of adopting such a decision to the captains of both teams and to the commanders of the Security Forces and Bodies deployed, and will order the organizer to disseminate – through the public address system and audiovisual systems – the possibility of agreeing to the suspension in case the incidents in question continue, “he cited.
“But in order to adopt any measure, it must first be known that what could have happened and this has not been the case, neither for the arbitrators, nor for the Federative Delegate, nor for the Delegate of the League, nor do we have proof that he had knowledge of the Security Coordinator, “said the RFEF.