A sanction taken after racist cries against Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Tuesday that it had imposed two partial closed doors in La Liga on Atlético de Madrid after the incidents at the Metropolitano stadium on Saturday.
“Atlético received a sanction of partial closure of its sports venue for a period of two matches and a financial penalty of 20,000 euros,” the RFEF said in a press release.
Spain international Nico Williams claimed he was targeted by monkey cries as he prepared to take a corner during his team’s 3-1 defeat in Madrid. The match was interrupted for a few minutes when he reported the incident to the referee.
“It’s not normal to be insulted for the color of your skin”
The Basque winger scored shortly after and celebrated his goal by tapping his arm, indicating the color of his skin. “It was with a little anger, it’s not normal to be insulted for the color of your skin,” he added. “There weren’t many. There are stupid people everywhere… I hope that will change little by little,” the 21-year-old emphasized.
The Spanish football league also announced that the author of these monkey noises had been identified thanks to cameras present in the stadium and handed over to the police after the match.
Despite the efforts of its authorities, which now report each incident to the authorities and increase communication campaigns, Spain is still struggling to stem racism in its stadiums. Real Madrid striker Vinicius, who scored Tuesday in the Champions League on Bayern Munich’s pitch, is a frequent victim of this.
