Spanish football organisation in massive trouble: FIFA opens case after anti Muslim chanting

A routine friendly turned into a disciplinary case

Barcelona was supposed to stage a low key international, but the night did not stay about football for long. According to Tom Rostance’s BBC Sport report, Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against the RFEF after chants during Spain’s match with Egypt at RCDE Stadium, where the game finished 0,0. Reports from the evening said officials displayed warnings inside the stadium and repeated them during the match as they tried to stop the chanting from sections of the crowd.

Fifa later confirmed that it had opened proceedings over the incidents in the friendly. That has pushed the matter beyond the usual round of post match statements and into a formal case, with the federation now having to answer for what happened in the stands as well as on the field.

The warnings were visible, but the problem did not stop

Reporting from Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, and from EFE, said anti Muslim and xenophobic chants were heard during the game, and EFE reported that the Egyptian national anthem was booed before kickoff. The scoreboard later carried an anti discrimination message, and officials appealed to supporters more than once, but the chants still became the defining sound of the night.

That detail matters because it shows the federation was not dealing with a complaint raised after the fact. The warnings were there in real time, in front of everyone in the stadium, and the problem was serious enough for anti racism protocols to become part of the story before the final whistle.

Read also: Guardiola reveals top striker he never coached

Condemnation came quickly from both sides

Spain’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, called the chants “intolerable,” while the RFEF said it condemned racism and violence in stadiums. In coverage carried by The Independent from AP, he said the people responsible were not representative of football. The Egyptian Football Association also condemned the chants, calling them a repugnant act of racism, while saying the behavior of a minority would not damage relations between the two federations.

Lamine Yamal added a more personal response. The Guardian’s report said the Spain forward wrote on Instagram that using religion as mockery showed ignorance and racism, and that the chanting was disrespectful to him as a Muslim even if it had been aimed at Egypt rather than at him directly.

Police are looking at it too

The case is not sitting only with football authorities. Catalonia’s regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, opened an investigation after the match, which means the fallout now runs on two tracks at once, one sporting and one legal. That is a much bigger problem for the Spanish federation than a single ugly headline, because it turns a bad night into an issue that can carry formal consequences well beyond the match report.

The draw is no longer the story

Spain and Egypt finished 0,0, but almost nobody is talking about the football now. The lasting image from the night is the anti discrimination message on the screen, and the lasting question is what Fifa decides to do with a case that had already drawn condemnation from coaches, players, officials, and police before the disciplinary process was opened.

Read also: Top 25 greatest goalkeepers in football history, ranked

Sources: BBC Sport, Al Jazeera, EFE, The Guardian, AP

Read also: Cristiano Ronaldo selects stadium with best atmosphere he played in