Real Madrid speaks out against racist abuse of Barcelona stars in El Clasico

Real Madrid has publicly condemned the racial abuse directed at Barcelona players, including teenagers Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde, during the team’s 4-0 loss in the recent Clasico.

The club’s statement, released on Sunday, expressed regret over the “insults that a few fans uttered” within the stadium, reaffirming Real Madrid’s opposition to “racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport.”

La Liga announced plans to report the incidents to Spanish authorities, and the Spanish government also voiced disapproval of the abuse.

The issue gained traction after videos circulated online showing racial slurs being hurled at Barcelona’s 17-year-old forward Yamal, who celebrated a goal in the match, marking him as the youngest scorer in Clasico history.

This incident has reignited calls for stricter measures against discrimination in Spanish football.

Real Madrid said they had “opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults”.

“La Liga will immediately report the racist insults and gestures directed at Barcelona players to the hate crime unit of the national police,” said the Spanish top flight in a statement.

Spain’s sports council (CSD) said their Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in sport would meet Monday to discuss the case.

“The Clasico is one of the greatest spectacles in the world, a true expression of the importance that football has in our country,” said the CSD in a statement.

“In it, as in any other sporting event, there can never be any room for expressions of violence, racism, xenophobia, hatred or intolerance.”

“Neither racism, nor insults, nor violence have a place in our country’s sport,” wrote Pilar Alegria, Spain’s minister for education, professional development and sports on social media platform X.

Elma Saiz, Spain’s minister for inclusion and migration, also offered support to Yamal.

“The racist insults aimed at Lamine Yamal in the Clasico are everything we in the government will fight against,” she wrote on X.

“We will not allow attacks that we do not tolerate in other spaces to become normalised in sport.

Spanish football is struggling to combat racism in stadiums across the country.

Real Madrid striker Vinicius Junior has become a figurehead in the fight against racism and has been targeted on numerous occasions since arriving in Spain in 2018.

The Brazilian winger earned worldwide support in May 2023 when he squared off with Valencia supporters after suffering abuse at their Mestalla stadium.

In June three Valencia supporters were sentenced to eight months in prison as a result.

In January 2023, an effigy in a Vinicius shirt was found hanging from a bridge near the club’s training ground alongside a banner saying: “Madrid hates Real”.

In December, four Atletico Madrid fans were charged over the incident, with prosecutors pushing for jail terms of four years.

This week Spanish police arrested four men suspected of inciting an online hate campaign against Vinicius.