LFP President Threatens Points Deductions And Relegation For Clubs Refusing To Ban Ultras

LFP president Javier Tebas has taken a firm stance against violent fan groups in Spain by threatening to impose fines, points deductions and/or relegation to clubs who fail to ban ‘ultras’ from their stadiums.

The head of the Spanish professional league has unanimous support from the government as well as a host of clubs after a Deportivo de La Coruna fan died as a result of fighting prior to the match between Atletico Madrid and Deportivo on Sunday.

Late Tuesday night, Atletico Madrid expelled the ultra group ‘Frente Atletico’ from the Vicente Calderon and Deportivo followed suit by banning Raizor Blues from their home matches.

LFP president Javier Tebas wants all of Spanish football to emulate the stance taken by Atletico and Deportivo, or face penalty from the governing body of football.

“We are going to compile an official list of all the ultras groups,” Tebas told the Spanish radio station COPE.

“Clubs that collaborate directly or indirectly with them will suffer economic sanctions and could be docked points or relegated.”

“We are going to consolidate the strategy to eliminate ultras from our stadiums.”

“I don’t know if we are acting late but I feel responsible as LFP president.”

“I am asking everyone to be self-critical: the Spanish federation (RFEF), the government sports council (CSD), the police, the fans, the clubs and the media so that we are never too late again.”

The ultras, who typically have extreme political views, have long been a part of Spanish football and have been tolerated with varying degrees by the majority of clubs.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Espanyol are a few of the teams who have banned ultras from their venues in recent years.

Former Deportivo de La Coruna president Cesar Agustin Lendoiro was dismissed as an LFP ambassador after it was understood that he attended the funeral of the 43-year-old man who died as a result of the violence in Madrid.

Reports in Spain have claimed that the individual was a member of Raizor Blues and had a history of “hooliganism”. Tebas insisted that Lendoiro’s dismissal was a rational response since the LFP want no positive links with ultras.

“We could not permit a representative of La Liga to be seen supporting ultras, particularly at a time like this when we’re condemning violence and are fighting against it,” the LFP president added.

“Don’t forget that we don’t accept holding a minute’s silence for the death and then he [Lendoiro] went to the funeral.”

“I told him that if he had a relationship with the family then respects should be paid in private. It didn’t take me a second to make this decision.”