English Premier League
La Liga reports abusive chants against Barcelona, Spain and Pedro Sanchez at several grounds
La Liga has reported abusive chants aimed at Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez at three stadiums, while chants directed at Spain and the national team were also heard at two other grounds after the opening two rounds of Spain’s top two divisions.
The league has submitted complaints to the Competition Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the National Anti-Violence Commission over chants considered to incite violence, contain insults or promote intolerance.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, La Liga publishes the complaints it sends to the authorities each week, detailing incidents reported during football matches.
Three of the complaints concerned chants aimed at Pedro Sanchez. The phrase “Pedro Sanchez, son of a b…” was reported at the Metropolitano during Atletico de Madrid’s match against Villarreal, at the Coliseum during Getafe’s game against Racing, and at Los Carmenes during Granada’s meeting with Real Mallorca.
All three matches were played during the second round of fixtures.
The reports also recorded chants of “Spain, son of a b…, and the national team, son of a b…” at Camp Nou during Barcelona’s first-round match against Athletic Club, and at El Sadar during Osasuna’s second-round fixture against Levante.
At the Metropolitano, supporters were additionally reported to have chanted: “Barcelona, son of a b…, Catalonia, son of a b…”
Other complaints involved chants with references to rival clubs, regions, violence and terrorism.
At RCDE Stadium, chants were reported during matches against Elche and Real Madrid which included the words: “He is a great pilot, divine landing, come on Taliban, send planes to Camp Nou.”
At El Sadar, another series of chants was reported. They included: “La Romareda, pigsty, son of a b…, where Legalitas and the police meet. What a smell of s…, what filth, with a bomb all of it will fly into the air, an explosion from Joma 2, to hell with Aragon. Osasuna enjoys watching that Zaragoza, son of a b…, burn.”
The references include La Romareda, the home of Real Zaragoza, while Joma 2 is understood in the reported chant as a reference to an explosive device. The complaint also mentioned Legalitas and the police.
La Liga said the chants fell within behaviour prohibited under Spanish football regulations and national legislation.
“These chants are included among prohibited conduct and are therefore subject to sanctions, both under the RFEF’s Sports Disciplinary Code and under legislation relating to the prevention of violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport,” the league said.
The complaints were issued after the completion of the first two match rounds in La Liga and Spain’s second division, with the relevant bodies now responsible for assessing the incidents and deciding whether disciplinary action should follow.
