It’s not very often you hear the words Spanish football and defensive in the same sentence but this week Spanish football and with it Spanish society have been on the defensive. This week most of the media chat has been about football but not about actions on the pitch. Firstly, Atletico Madrid were punished by UEFA for crowd trouble, police brutality and alleged racist chanting at their last home Champions League match with Marseille. Altetico were fined quite substantially and ordered to play their next two Champions League home matches outside of Madrid. Following on from that, the English FA announced that they want next years friendly in Spain to be played outside of Madrid as they don’t want a repeat of the racist chanting they experienced on their last visit to Spain. The reaction in Spain has been fierce. Both stories have dominated the Spanish media during the last week. The controversy has even become political, with senior politicians, including the President, criticising both UEFA and the English FA.
Now, no country likes being criticized, especially by an organization as ridiculously hypocritical as UEFA, however the reaction in Spain has been one of total denial. Total denial that the Spanish police acted in any way over the top when they confronted Marseille fans in Madrid. Total denial that racism is a problem in Spanish football. Even total denial that there were racist chants at the previous Spain vs England match. Spain’s answer has been that of a conspiracy theorist. Firstly, the UEFA decision came about because of UEFA’s French President, Michel Platini. This conspiracy theory may not too far off the mark. The decision by UEFA was certainly severe, especially considering that Marseille received absolutely no punishment. Then again, anyone who knows how UEFA works, knows that they are a bizarre organization who make decisions on an ad-hoc basis. The second conspiracy theory is that the English FA made their decision in a bid to damage Madrid’s Olympic bid. This conspiracy theory is much stranger and doesn’t really make any sense, however so fierce is the denial that it has been accepted as probable. Anything sounds better than accepting that racism is a problem in Spanish football.
I believe Spanish society is one of the most open societies in Europe. Spaniards generally have a live and let live attitude. However, when it comes to confronting some of their uglier problems, this openness disappears. I watched various discussions shows on this topic and I heard only one dissenting voice, an older man who blamed the Spanish FA for not dealing with Luis Aragones when he called Thierry Henry a Black S**t. However he was shouted down by the rest of the panel, including the host of the programme.
Atletico are fighting the charges against them and might very well win, clearing their name and that of the Spanish police. The Spanish media will be happy and things will go back as they were. However, unless Spaniards confront the uglier problems in their society and unless something serious is done to tackle racism in Spanish football and there is serious discussion about the behaviour of the Spanish police towards foreign football fans, then we will be back here again. If that does happen, then Madrid’s Olympic bid may well be damaged after all.
Now, no country likes being criticized, especially by an organization as ridiculously hypocritical as UEFA, however the reaction in Spain has been one of total denial. Total denial that the Spanish police acted in any way over the top when they confronted Marseille fans in Madrid. Total denial that racism is a problem in Spanish football. Even total denial that there were racist chants at the previous Spain vs England match. Spain’s answer has been that of a conspiracy theorist. Firstly, the UEFA decision came about because of UEFA’s French President, Michel Platini. This conspiracy theory may not too far off the mark. The decision by UEFA was certainly severe, especially considering that Marseille received absolutely no punishment. Then again, anyone who knows how UEFA works, knows that they are a bizarre organization who make decisions on an ad-hoc basis. The second conspiracy theory is that the English FA made their decision in a bid to damage Madrid’s Olympic bid. This conspiracy theory is much stranger and doesn’t really make any sense, however so fierce is the denial that it has been accepted as probable. Anything sounds better than accepting that racism is a problem in Spanish football.
I believe Spanish society is one of the most open societies in Europe. Spaniards generally have a live and let live attitude. However, when it comes to confronting some of their uglier problems, this openness disappears. I watched various discussions shows on this topic and I heard only one dissenting voice, an older man who blamed the Spanish FA for not dealing with Luis Aragones when he called Thierry Henry a Black S**t. However he was shouted down by the rest of the panel, including the host of the programme.
Atletico are fighting the charges against them and might very well win, clearing their name and that of the Spanish police. The Spanish media will be happy and things will go back as they were. However, unless Spaniards confront the uglier problems in their society and unless something serious is done to tackle racism in Spanish football and there is serious discussion about the behaviour of the Spanish police towards foreign football fans, then we will be back here again. If that does happen, then Madrid’s Olympic bid may well be damaged after all.
1 comment:
an interesting insight, Jamie.
just so you guys know, I've been reading all your entries and I like them. :)
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