Spain were held to a goalless draw by Egypt on Tuesday, but the big talking point was the racist chants that were aimed at the visiting side from a section of supporters inside the RCDE Stadium.
In the first half, chants of “whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim” were heard inside the stadium, while the Egyptian national anthem was also booed pre-match. A large number of supporters whistled those fans who started the chants, and Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente also issued his condemnation post-match, as per Marca.
“Everyone shares the same opinion: it is intolerable. We reject it absolutely. I think they acted well with the warning on the scoreboard. The vast majority have whistled at the unpresentable. The violent are not in football, they take advantage of football, as with all other facets of life. We have to turn our backs on them.”
Spanish Football Federation president Rafael Louzan also spoke to the media after proceedings ended at the RCDE Stadium, and with quotes also carried by Marca, he also slammed the chants.
“Thank you to the fans from the city of Barcelona for almost filling the stadium. And at the same time, we condemn this type of specific and isolated situations that occur. Sport and football should be an example, not this. In the video scoreboards we have condemned these attitudes and that they do not happen again.”
Louzan also confirmed that he apologised to the Egyptian Football Federation’s president, who was in attendance at the RCDE Stadium, while he also paid tribute to the entire delegation that arrived from the North African country.
“There was an extraordinary atmosphere of cordiality with the Egyptian delegation. I thanked the president of the federation for being here, and I also apologized (for the chants).”
