In the wake of the widely condemned racism case that involved Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior last weekend, the Spanish Primera division, LaLiga says it wants more powers to be able to tackle racism and its related offences decisively.
LaLiga President Javier Tebas assures that the body has done and will keep doing all it can, within its powers to ensure that racism is successfully stamped out of the beautiful game, but the ultimate powers belong to the government.
LaLiga’s powers and remit
In Spain, the applicable regulation for the punishment of racist behaviour is provided for in Law 19/2007, of July 11, against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport.
Article 28 attributes the power to impose sanctions to the Government Delegation, the Secretary of State for Security, the Ministry of the Interior and the Council of Ministers, without prejudice to the possible powers of the Autonomous Communities. Therefore, legally LaLiga is limited to reporting the facts and events, which is what it does.
In the case of possible sporting disciplinary measures, these are set out in the RFEF Disciplinary Code which incorporates the offences set out in Article 34 and following of Law 19/2007, of 11 July, with the Competition Committee being responsible for imposing sanctions. Therefore, LaLiga can once again only report the facts, which is what it does.
With regard to the actions of the referees during the match in relation to behaviour of this kind, LaLiga has no jurisdiction over such acts. This is the responsibility of the RFEF, who are responsible for refereeing.
Racist behaviour can be reported by clubs, by the RFEF (which sends a delegate to all matches) and by LaLiga (which sends one or two Match Directors to all matches). As is well known, every week, LaLiga reports all possible acts of violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance that occur in LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank, the full extent of its remit under the current situation.
LaLiga has within its remit been fighting and leading the battle against violence, racism, xenophobia, and intolerance in sport for years, as evidenced by the many initiatives that have been put in place in recent years, especially the cases brought before the courts and before the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Sport.
LaLiga’s Legal, and Integrity and Security departments strongly condemn all kinds of violence that have occurred inside or outside professional football stadiums over the last few seasons.
LaLiga’s objective is zero violence in sport and in order to achieve this, various prevention. detection and reporting practices are put into action every matchday, which are then reported to the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, as well as to the RFEF’s (Royal Spanish Football Federation) Competition Committee. In the same way, LaLiga condemns and takes legal action in any criminal proceedings related to violent acts occurring in the sphere of football..
In order to speed up the identification of any person or group of people who engage in racist behaviour inside or outside any stadium, LaLiga has set up the email address StopRacismo@laliga.es and the Telegram channel @StopRacismoLaLiga, so that fans cant contact LaLiga and provide the necessary information to help file the relevant reports. In addition, a dedicated reporting system has been set up on the LaLiga website so that any fan can report racist behaviour they observe inside or outside a stadium.
LaLiga reporting of racist insults
Since the creation of LaLiga’s Integrity and Security Department (2015/16 season), more than a dozen racist incidents/actions linked to LaLiga matches have been reported. All cases have been investigated and/or reported to the relevant bodies and authorities.
Some of these episodes took place on the pitch, between players/coaching staff. On these occasions, and with due respect to the actions of the referee on the pitch, LaLiga analyses the audio and digital files, as well as commissioning external expert reports with lip-reading analysis, in order to provide all this information to the bodies to which we present our reports.
In the case of racist insults by fans against players, in addition to reporting the facts to the aforementioned State Commission, since the 2018/19 season LaLiga has also taken these cases to the Hate Prosecutor’s Office. Recently, in view of the fact that some of LaLiga’s complaints have been shelved by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and due to the lack of uniformity in the grounds, LaLiga has decided to file complaints directly with the Courts of Instruction.
Summary of the cases and the current judicial status
Iñaki Williams in Barcelona: January 25, 2020, during the RCD Espanyol de Barcelona vs Athletic Club match, held at the RCDE Stadium. In the 69th minute of the match, while Iñaki Williams was leaving the pitch, several fans shouted racist abuse.
Currently, both Laliga and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have already filed their indictments against the Individual responsible, with LaLiga requesting a two-year prison sentence. a 12-month fine, special disqualification from engaging in any profession related to sport for more than 10 years, and a stadium bon for a period of more than five years in addition to the prison sentence imposed, with Court of instruction No.2 of Camellà de Llobregat having atready issued an order for the opening of the oral trial.
LaLiga are now waiting for the trial date to be set.
Vinicius Jr. in Barcelona, January 25, 2020: In the case of Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr.. Laliga filed a report with the Hate Prosecutor’s Office in Barcelona for the abuse he received during El Clasico at Camp Nou on October 24, 2021. LaLiga was notified by the Public Prosecutor’s Office that the complaint had been dismissed “given that the authorities were unable to identify the perpetrators of the acts.
Vinicius Jr. In Mallorca, March 14, 2022: LaLiga filed a complaint with the Balearic Islands Hate Prosecutor’s Office for racist abuse against the player during the RCD Mallorca vs Real Madrid match on March 14, 2022 at the Estadio de Son Molx. In this case, the reason for the Prosecutor’s Office’s dismissal of the case was because “the expression and sounds uttered, undoubtedly typical of foul and despicable attitudes, as well as being offensive and absolutely reprehensible, do not initially appear to have, in this case, the public criminal dimension that is being claimed
Nico Williams in Seville, March 13, 2022: Meanwhile, Nico Williams, brother of Iñaki Williams and also an Athletic Club player, received racist abuse on March 13, 2022 at the Estadio Benito Villamarin, during the Real Betis vsAthletic Club match, which was also reported by Laliga.
This case was also closed by the Seville Hate Prosecutor’s Office becouse “despite not having made a statement, from an examination of the defendant’s social media accounts, it appears that the defendant is not a person who intends to incite racism, or that the gestures mode were intended to achieve this end. The consideration of criminal justice as a last resort leads us to consider that, despite their incorrectness, they do not go beyond the line of criminal offence.
Carlos Akapo in Granada, February 28, 2022: Laliga acted in the same way in the case of Carlos Akapo, then a Cádiz CF player, who also suffered racist abuse at the Estadio de los Cormenes during the match against Granada CF on February 28, 2022 . On this occasion, it should be noted that Granada CF identified the fan, who also voluntarily turned himself in to the police
As a result of LaLiga’s report, the Hate Crime Prosecutor’s Office filed a complaint with the Granada Court of instruction At present, the person responsible for the insults has already testified before the Court of Instruction No.2 of Granada, and Carlos Akopo will also testify in the near future.
Vinicius Jr. in Madrid September 18, 2022: Racist abuse was also reported against Vinicius Jr on September 18, 2022 inside and outside the Estadio Civitas Metropolitano, before and during the Atletico de Madrid vs Real Madrid match. The case was closed by the Hote Prosecutor’s Office becouse “there is no concrete act to be attributed to a specific person and once the insults of a racist nature have been contextualised, they do not constitute a crime against the dignity of the person concerned under Article $10.2 a) of the Criminal Code And this on the basis that they are unpleasant, inappropriate, and disrespectful, since they were made in the contest of on extremely heated football match, with other derogatory.or Insulting references to the sporting competition, together with the fact that they were not repeatad beyond the two acts described above and lasted only a few seconds.”
The above are some of the documented cases which LaLiga has followed to a logical constitution within its powers and remit.
