Yamal slams Spanish fans for 'intolerable' anti-Muslim chants during Egypt friendly; Police launch investigation
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Yamal slams Spanish fans for 'intolerable' anti-Muslim chants during Egypt friendly; Police launch investigation")
Yamal slams Spanish fans for 'intolerable' anti-Muslim chants during Egypt friendly Photograph: (AFP)
Spanish police on Wednesday said they were investigating "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants that were heard during a Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona, which the prime minister said "tarnish" the country.
Spanish and Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal has hit back at Spanish fans after “anti-Muslim” chants were heard during Spain’s friendly match against Egypt on Tuesday (Mar 31). Yamal, Ballon d’Or runner-up in September, took a dig at his own fans while stating that he is also a Muslim. He termed the chants “intolerable,” with Barcelona Police now investigating the matter, which became a talking point after the friendly match.
Yamal takes dig at Spanish fans
The chanting "was aimed at the opposing team and was not something personal against me, but as a Muslim, it is still a lack of respect and something intolerable," Lamal wrote on Instagram.
"To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist."
Spanish police on Wednesday said they were investigating "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants that were heard during a Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona, which the prime minister said "tarnish" the country. Egypt's national anthem was also jeered ahead of the 0-0 draw on Tuesday in a pre-World Cup friendly, while authorities at La Liga side Espanyol's RCDE Stadium appealed to fans more than once over the public announcement system to refrain from making offensive comments.
It was the latest in a string of similar incidents to overshadow Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid's Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular repeatedly racially abused.
Trending Stories
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
"We are investigating yesterday's Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at RCDE Stadium during the Spain-Egypt friendly match," Catalonia's regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, wrote on X.
A section of supporters had chanted: "Whoever doesn't jump is Muslim."
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned an "unacceptable" incident on X, adding: "we cannot allow an uncivil minority to tarnish the reality of Spain, a diverse and tolerant country."
Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said on X that "racist insults and chants embarrass us as a society".
"The far right will not leave any space free from their hatred, and those who remain silent today will be complicit," he added.
