Advertisement

Spanish FA president says racism doesn’t exist in Spain

Dirty Tackle

Good news, everybody! While England and UEFA have been dealing with racism from fans and racial slurs from players in recent months, RFEF president and FIFA executive committee member Angel Maria Villar Llona says Spain is 100 percent racism free. Hooray! This would be reason enough to celebrate if it were even remotely true and not a depressing sign of systematic failure to recognize a problem.

From PA Sport:

Asked how racism in Spanish football compared to the game in England, which has had two high-profile abuses cases in the last year, Villa[r] Llona said: "There is no racism in Spanish football."

Asked about the incident when Thierry Henry was the subject of racist language from former Spain coach Luis Aragones, Villa[r] Llona repeated his insistence it was not an issue in Spanish football.

The RFEF was fined €20,000 for supporters' racist chanting during Euro 2012 and just last year, Barcelona defender Dani Alves described racism in Spanish football as "uncontrollable." In addition to the Henry incident, Samuel Eto'o also had to deal with racial abuse on numerous occasions while playing for Barcelona, which even drove him to abandon a match at one point. Of course, these are just a few examples. But as Villar Llona will tell you, if you ignore all of that you can pretend it doesn't exist!