Lamine Yamal: Real Madrid open investigation into 17-year-old Barcelona star over racist insults
i

Lamine Yamal: Real Madrid open investigation into 17-year-old Barcelona star over racist insults | Credits: IMAGO

Lamine Yamal: Real Madrid open investigation into 17-year-old Barcelona star over racist insults

David Ben 11:51 - 27.10.2024

Yamal was the subject of racial abuse during Saturday's El Clasico.

Real Madrid is taking a firm stance against racism following an incident involving some of their fans at the Santiago Bernabeu during Saturday's heated El Clasico. 

Barcelona humiliated the Los Blancos 4-0 in their own backyard to go six points clear at the top of the LaLiga summit.

Hours after the encounter, Real Madrid swiftly condemned the behaviour after videos surfaced showing fans in one section of the stadium directing racial slurs toward FC Barcelona’s young sensation Lamine Yamal, as well as teammate Alejandro Baldé.

 The 17-year-old Yamal, who netted a stunning goal at the Bernabeu on Saturday night, was caught in the spotlight of a dark moment as he was subjected to insulting chants while celebrating his team’s victory.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

El Clasico: Real Madrid releases statement to address Lamine Yamal racial abuse

Lamine Yamal
Lamine Yamal scored in Barcelona's 4-0 win against Real Madrid | IMAGO

 Real Madrid responded swiftly in an official statement, expressing regret and denouncing "racist, xenophobic, or violent behavior in football and sport."

An official statement on Sunday read:

“Real Madrid categorically condemns any type of behavior that involves racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the corners of the stadium.

"Real Madrid has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these regrettable and despicable insults, in order to adopt the relevant disciplinary and judicial measures."

Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Jr. has also been a victim of racial abuse in Spain || Imago

Despite La Liga’s measures and rising sanctions, high-profile players like Vinicius Junior have frequently faced similar abuse, making headlines repeatedly since 2018 as incidents of racial abuse continue to mar Spanish stadiums. 

Real Madrid’s commitment to disciplinary action in this case demonstrates a growing resolve among clubs and authorities to hold offenders accountable.

However, fans and players alike have continued to clamour for even stricter measures to ensure safer, more inclusive stadiums.