Spain: Anti-Muslim chants mar Egypt soccer friendly

Spanish authorities have said they are investigating repeated abusive chants by fans during Tuesday night's international friendly match between the Spanish and Egyptian men's national football teams.

The game, which had to be moved to Barcelona from Qatar as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran, ended in a 0-0 draw, but was marred by persistent anti-Muslim jeers directed at the visiting team.

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente was livid after the match, voicing "total and absolute disgust" for the behavior of some Spanish fans while blasting "any form of xenophobia, racism or disrespect" as absolutely unacceptable.

"Violent people use football to carve out a space for themselves. They must be removed from society, identified, and kept as far away as possible," de la Fuente added.

The coach pointed out that a large majority of fans at the match loudly condemned the incident and booed those responsible, but he called for those involved in wrongdoing to be banned.

De la Fuente's disgust was echoed by Spanish football's governing body RFEF.

Spanish police are now seeking to identify those involved in the "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants.

What did Spanish fans do during the game against Egypt?

The trouble started early on Tuesday evening, with Spanish supporters loudly jeering the Egyptian national anthem, only to shift to overtly racist and anti-Muslim chants halfway through the first half.

Authorities made repeated requests for those insulting the guests to stop, to no avail.

At one point, stadium operators flashed a message to fans on scoreboards that read: "Please be reminded that legislation on the prevention of violence in sport prohibits and penalizes active participation in violent, xenophobic, homophobic or racist acts."

"We are investigating yesterday's Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at RCDE Stadium during the Spain-Egypt friendly match," Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra regional police force later wrote on X.

Spanish Justice Minister Felix Bolanos joined the condemnation as well, saying, such "racist insults and chants shame us as a society."

Spain has seen several such incidents in recent years, with professional players such as Brazilian forward and Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior, in particular, facing repeated racist abuse.

Edited by: Karl Sexton

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