By Andrew Warshaw
May 8 – Villarreal have been fined just €12,000 by the Spanish Football Federation for the already infamous racism incident when a fan threw a banana at Barcelona defender Dani Alves.
It happened in Barcelona’s 3-2 win on April 27, just as Alves was about to take a corner, and he reacted by taking a bite from the banana before discarding it. A 26-year-old fan was later arrested and Alves has received widespread support on social media.
Spanish football authorities were considering a partial closure of the stadium, but instead opted for a fine after the fan was given a life ban. The Spanish Football Federation said Villarreal were fined for the supporter “committing an act of contempt or disregard concerning racial or ethnic origin towards an adversary”.
The federation took into account “the praiseworthy and firm decision by the club to deny entry” to the stadium for life to the fan who threw the banana according to Spanish sources. But Lord Herman Ouseley, chair of the football Kick It Out in the UK, criticised the leniency of the punishment. Within days of the incident, another example of racism took place at Levante where midfielder Papakouly Diop said he was the target of monkey chants from visiting Atletico Madrid fans.
“The Spanish FA has been incredibly weak and lily-livered on tackling racism and we’re seeing these types of incidents repeating themselves because they’ve done nothing sufficiently effective to address the problem,” Lord Ouseley was quoted as saying. “They need to stop burying their heads in the sand by denying that the issue exists.”
Barcelona released a statement, calling for a clampdown on racism throughout the game.
“Barcelona wishes to express its complete support and solidarity with Dani Alves following the insults he was subject to,” it read. “Barcelona urges all clubs to continue fighting against the blight on the game which any kind of aggression against a sportsperson on the basis of their race represents.”
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