LaLiga president welcomes jail time for racism in Spain

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has backed handing out prison sentences to fans who racially abuse players during games. The exec’s comments come as a Spanish court recently gave a Mallorca supporter a 12-month suspended sentence for hurling racial insults during two separate matches.

The man initially racially abused Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior during a matchup with Mallorca in February 2023. The same supporter then also insulted Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze two weeks later. Real, Villarreal, and LaLiga officials joined forces to file a lawsuit against the fan. Along with the prison sentence, the disgraced Mallorca supporter also cannot enter a soccer stadium in Spain for three years.

“This sentence is one of many that may come of those [cases] that are still pending, at the judicial level,” Tebas told ESPN. “We will continue until the end; if we have to put in jail those that shout or sing about racism, we will be there.”

Racism has been a growing problem in Spain in recent years

Rampant racism has been an ongoing problem during LaLiga matches for some time. Racist opposing fans have specifically targeted Vinicius Junior several times since he joined Real in 2018. The continued abuse even moved the Brazilian star to tears during a discussion on the topic with reporters earlier this year.

Getafe midfielder Christantus Uche became the latest LaLiga player to claim that he was racially abused during a match. The Nigerian playmaker is in his first Spanish top-flight season after joining the club this summer.

Uche’s claims, however, did not go down well with Getafe’s owner. Angel Torres, who is also the team’s president, criticized his player by saying that Uche “doesn’t understand” Spanish soccer.

Tebas also responded to Uche’s comments by asking the player to officially report the issue in the future. “I would have liked him [Uche] to have told me,” continued the LaLiga boss. “What I ask him is that he does not allow this to happen, that he reports it to his club, to LaLiga, and we will take the appropriate measures.”

“Had we detected it, you can be sure that those people would have been identified and expelled, as has happened in the case of Vinicius and others. We have special cameras in the risk zones of the matches where we believe there may be an outcry.”

Barca issued Champions League away fan ban due to racist behavior

The comments by Tebas come as UEFA punishes Barcelona for racist behavior from their fans during a Champions League game. Several Barca supporters were found guilty of racist behavior in Monaco on September 19th. The Spanish side lost the match on the night after they were reduced to 10 players in the first half.

The governing body has fined the Catalan club $11,000 due to the incidents. Along with the fine, Barca can also not sell tickets to their next away match in the competition. The club has two consecutive Champions League home games up next. As a result, the away fan ban will not come until they travel to Serbia to play Red Star Belgrade in November.

This is not the first time that UEFA has had to punish Barca for racist fan behavior. Multiple supporters of the Spanish team were arrested last season after a matchup with Paris Saint-Germain. The fans allegedly performed Nazi salutes during the game. PSG knocked Barca out of the tournament at the quarterfinal stage at the time.

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