Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa has declared that he does not believe Spain to be racist as a whole, following Islamophobic chants during Spain’s friendly with Egypt this week. The widespread shouts ‘Whomever doesn’t jump is Muslim’ at the RCDE Stadium was headline news in Spain, and is under investigation by the Catalan police.
The incident overshadowed Spain’s penultimate game on Spanish soil before the World Cup, with Lamine Yamal exiting the pitch alone while his teammates did a lap of honour for the fans. The following day he released a statement declaring that the chants were ‘intolerable’ and racist’.
A major talking point all week, the Real Madrid manager was asked about the incident. While he asked for UEFA to act and punish Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni following his racial abuse of Vinicius Junior, Arbeloa downplayed the issue in Spain, albeit that was between players.
“I believe Spain is not a racist country. If it were, we’d have problems every weekend. We need to eradicate certain behaviours, things I can’t change. But I will continue to defend this. Spain must keep fighting to eradicate these kinds of attitudes, but we are a great, very tolerant country. We shouldn’t generalise, but we must continue with the same fight and strength.”
The line that ‘Spain is not a racist country’ has been trotted out routinely in response to incidents in La Liga, but this week saw more of a focus from the media on addressing what appears to be a growing problem. The repeated incidents and the abuse for one of Spain’s own players at a home ground seems to have brought home the magnitude of the issue.
With FIFA reportedly concerned about the successive incidents in Spanish stadiums, there is a fear that it could see football’s governing body to award the 2030 World Cup final to Morocco. Spain are battling with their neighbours to the south to host the showpiece event in the next tournament four years down the line.
