Spain’s government on Tuesday said it had ordered the sacking of the security heads of soccer clubs Atletico Madrid and RC Deportivo de la Coruna over a deadly riot that left a fan dead.
Spanish Deputy Minister of Security Francisco Martinez announced the move to a parliamentary commission investigating the brawl in which rioters rampaged with metal bars and knives hours before the two sides’ Nov. 30 match.
“I have decided to order the dismissal of both clubs’ security coordinators as a measure of joint responsibility in the person’s death and the violent acts in the streets of Madrid,” Martinez said.
He said police were still investigating how members of Riazor Blues, a radical fan group linked to Deportivo, got hold of 110 tickets to the match without the authorities’ knowledge.
The man who died after being beaten and pushed into the river in the fighting was identified as a 43-year-old member of the Riazor Blues.
As well as banning known ultras groups, authorities are also targeting fans who sing offensive chants in stadiums.
Martinez said his ministry would also propose new protocol to task police with monitoring verbal abuse in the soccer stands.
“All forms of physical and verbal violence must be eliminated from sport,” he said.
Spain’s Professional Football League announced it was bringing formal complaints against five clubs for alleged verbal abuse by fans.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Deportivo, Rayo Vallecano and Granada would all be denounced to a government commission which would then decide whether to refer them to the Spanish federation’s competition committee for sanction, the league said.
The complaints target alleged abuse last weekend against players including Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi.
Spain’s Football Federation and the government-controlled Higher Sports Council have said tougher sanctions for clubs over violent behavior by supporters will come into force on Monday.
Europe’s main fans group has criticized Spain over new measures designed to crack down on violent and abusive supporters’ groups, labeling them “short-sighted” and warning of “fatal consequences.”
The Football Supporters Europe network (FSE), which has members in 42 countries, on Tuesday said the measures would affect fans who are neither violent nor abusive.
“First of all, there is great reason to doubt that mass punishments meet constitutional principles,” the FSE said on its Web site.
“Furthermore, which is even worse, these measures also threaten a vast majority of young supporters, who are organized in these groups and never behaved in a violent or racist way before,” they added.
FSE said it was obvious that what it called short-sighted collective sanctions were welcomed in the media and might provide an easy answer to public pressure.
“On the other hand, though, it is a fact that they do not lead to a long-term reduction of violence and/or problems like racism and discrimination in Spanish football, problems which had been neglected for many years,” it added. “We call for the development of alternative approaches which can preserve all the positive elements of a vibrant fan culture without defending those who are evidently promoting racism or violence in and around Spanish stadiums.”
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