The FIFA Appeal Committee has rejected an appeal lodged by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) against sanctions for racist chants that occurred during a friendly match against Egypt in March. The RFEF announced the decision on Friday.
The incident took place on March 31 at the Cornella stadium, home of Espanyol, where a section of the crowd chanted, "whoever doesn't jump is Muslim."
Following the event, FIFA's disciplinary committee imposed a fine of $20,000 (€17,800) and mandated the closure of at least 15 percent of the stadium for Spain's next home friendly. This decision was made on August 4, three weeks after Spain secured the World Cup title.
Lamine Yamal, a forward for Barcelona and one of Spain's starters in the match, is Muslim and was born in a suburb near the Cornella stadium. He described the chants as "a lack of respect and something intolerable." Spain manager Luis de la Fuente also deemed the chants "intolerable," adding, "Violent individuals exploit football to carve out a space for themselves. They must be removed from society, identified, and the further away the better."
The RFEF reiterated on Friday that its own monitoring mechanisms detected the misconduct and that announcements were made at half-time, during the second half, and on stadium video screens to urge the crowd to stop. The federation stated it cooperated fully to help identify those responsible and confirmed its intention to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Egyptian Football Association issued a statement condemning the "vile racist incident" by spectators who "went beyond the limits."
