Brazilian fan kicked out of Madrid derby after confronting fan for racist chants

It was a grim scene at the Madrid derby once again on Sunday night, with the game suspended, after lighters were thrown at Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois. However that was not the only disgraceful incident at the Metropolitano.

As reported by Relevo, one fan in the stands was kicked out by the security staff after an altercation. A black Brazilian fan turned round to confront another fan who had been making monkey noises at one of the players, and as he tried to confront the fan making those noises, was removed by the security staff.

It is noted that the Brazilian fan was removed because of the violent nature of his confrontation, and the security staff were trying to prevent a fight. The instigator of the incident was not removed, as the security staff did not see any insults towards the players.

It is a tricky situation that the ground staff have been put in, but the optics are certainly the wrong ones. While clearly if violence was on the table, the Brazilian fan had to be removed, the fact that the racist was not, makes it look like there is impunity for racism, and conssequences for confronting it, even if that loses the nuance of the situation. It remains to be seen whether Atletico Madrid will take action.