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The “minority” of radicals that Espanyol has not managed to eradicate

BarcelonaCornellà-El Prat experienced the darkest night in Sunday’s derby. Beyond the sporting frustration caused by the defeat against Barça, which further complicates Espanyol’s options for staying in the Primera, the invasion of the pitch by white-and-blue supporters while the Blaugrana players were celebrating the title de Lliga making a circle in the middle of the field is a very serious incident that has become a stain in the history of a stadium that is once again experiencing a state of tension due to the institutional and sporting situation of the club.

“The ones who jumped onto the field are very young people, who, out of ignorance and a desire to live an adventure, made a mistake that could do a lot of damage,” sources from the white-and-blue club admit to the ARA. The entity is definitive about whether it considered that it had a security problem or whether it perceived signs of radicalism in the stands: “The atmosphere at the RCDE Stadium is familiar and non-violent, this is confirmed by the security reports of the Mossos d Squad, who would be the first to warn us if a problem had to be faced globally”.

The trajectory of Cornellà-El Prat, where the incidents recorded since the inauguration in 2009 have been counted, gives the club the right, which defends that what happened in the derby “was a one-off event and not systemic”. An argument that has an unexpected partner. “In general, the public has been correct, it was an isolated incident and we will not ask for responsibility”, remembered Joan Laporta, moments after seeing how dozens of Espanyol fans jumped on the grass of the RCDE Stadium to interrupt bad manners the Blaugrana players party.

No one better than the current president of Barça understands the difference between a one-off episode and a structural phenomenon. In 2005 he managed to win the pulse of the Boixos Nois: he cut off all the privileges they obtained from the club and, ignoring their blackmails and threats, expelled them from the stadium. Espanyol took good note of that management and four years later carried out its own purge with the Blanquiazules Brigades, an ultra-right group born in 1985 following the rise of the movement skinhead and which came to gather more than a thousand radicals in the 90s.

The white-and-blue club kept them away from the stand by putting obstacles and pressure measures: from fences to isolate them inside the field to the infiltration of plainclothes police to keep them under control. In addition, they cut off all avenues for them to access tickets and left them out of all promotions. The club was born in Sarrià and although some of its members made the leap with the transfer to the Olympic Stadium, the club prevented them from accessing, as a group, Cornellà-El Prat. “The vast majority have disciplinary records and cannot be members or enter the stadium”, explain Espanyol sources. The white-and-blue entity warns that it is no exception: “In the meetings we have with the security coordinators of LaLiga Impulso we see that Espanyol is an average club in terms of banned spectators, we do not stand out for good or bad”.

The tense coexistence in the entertainment stand

The fact that most of the spectators who took part in the invasion on the lawn came from the cheering stands mainly points to the two collectives that are part of it, the Curva RCDE and the Penya Juvenil 1991. Two groups that have historically faced each other mainly because of fights of power to lead the animation of the white-and-blue stadium and that the club has been trying to reconcile for some time. “In recent years there have been some setbacks, but there has also been progress and now we maintain a correct relationship”, they acknowledge from the club. The most obvious example, the little success that Alberto Ariza, responsible for the club’s social area, had in trying to stop the radicals who jumped onto the lawn.

Bringing the singing voice of Cornellà-El Prat has been, in recent years, the great goal of these two main animation groups, who now live together in the Cornellà goal after years separated by disputes that came to transform -se in confrontations. The relationship between the parties remains strained, both on and above all off the pitch. The expulsion of the Brigades as a collective, however, did not definitively eliminate the problem. And the threat that some of its members may have influence on the young people of these groups is a more than real risk, as followers close to members of Grada Canito warn the ARA. There are growing voices that face with concern the drift that has taken the space following the irruption of some radicalized members. A problem with a “minority” that Espanyol has not been able to solve completely and that now, forced by the unfortunate events, will have to address firmly in order not to relive some of the darkest chapters in its history. Espanyol cannot afford to take a step back.

2023-05-15 19:34:55
#minority #radicals #Espanyol #managed #eradicate

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