LaLiga has announced this Tuesday that it will request to have more sanctioning powers, “with the aim of being more agile and effective in the fight against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport, where LaLiga has been leading the detection and denouncing these behaviors in football stadiums, but feeling impotent when observing how their denunciations end,” the employers said in a press release.
“Despite its intense and continuous fight against violence and racism to the best of its powers (today, according to Spanish legislation, limited to detecting and reporting the events that occur), LaLiga feels tremendous frustration due to the lack of sanctions and sentences by the sports disciplinary bodies, the public administrations and the jurisdictional bodies to which it is denounced. Given this serious situation, in the coming days LaLiga will formally request that Law 19/2007, of July 11, against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport and Law 39 be amended. /2022, of December 30, of sport”, continues the statement from the entity chaired by Javier Tebas.
LaLiga intends to be able to decree the total or partial closure of sports venues, the prohibition of access to it and the imposition of economic sanctions, without prejudice to the adoption of provisional or precautionary measures that may proceed based on the nature and seriousness of the facts.
Of the nine complaints that he filed for racism attacks against Vinicius, only two have been convicted. The files of the rest of the cases denounced by the Prosecutor’s Office, including those of other players, carried out have motivated the request for sanctioning powers by the employer.
Summary of the cases denounced and the judicial situation in which they find themselves
Inaki Williams in Barcelona: January 25, 2020, during the RCD Espanyol de Barcelona vs. Athletic Club, held at the RCDE Stadium. In the 69th minute of the game, while Iñaki Williams retired through one of the funds, several fans uttered racist shouts.
Currently, both LaLiga and the Prosecutor’s Office have already formulated their indictments against the person responsible, requesting by LaLiga the imposition of two years in prison, a twelve-month fine, special disqualification from practicing any profession related to sports for more than ten years and prohibition to access the stadium for a period of more than five years to the prison term that is imposed, having already been issued by the Examining Court No. 2 of Cornellá de Llobregat order to open the oral trial.
Vinicius Jr. in Barcelona, January 25, 2020: In the case of the Real Madrid player, Vinicius Jr., LaLiga filed a complaint with the Barcelona Hate Prosecutor for the screams he received in El Clásico at the Camp Nou on October 24, 2021. LaLiga received notification of the file of the complaint by said Prosecutor’s Office “since the identification of the perpetrators of the events was not achieved” by the police authorities.
Vinicius Jr. in Mallorca, March 14, 2022: LaLiga filed a complaint with the Hate Prosecutor of the Balearic Islands for the racist shouts against the player during RCD Mallorca vs. Real Madrid on March 14, 2022 at the Son Moix stadium. In this case, the reason for filing the complaint by the Prosecutor’s Office was because “the expression and sounds made, undoubtedly typical of profane and despicable attitudes, as well as vexatious and absolutely rejectable, do not initially seem to cover, for the present case, the public criminal dimension that is postulated.”
Nico Williams in Seville, March 13, 2022For his part, Nico Williams, Iñaki’s brother and also an Athletic player, received some racist shouting on March 13, 2022 at the Benito Villamarín stadium, during the Real Betis – Athletic Club match, which was also the subject of a complaint by part of La Liga. This was also archived by the Seville Hate Prosecutor’s Office because “despite not having declared, from the study of the defendant’s social networks, it seems to be clear that he is not a person who intends to incite racism, or that the gestures made were intended to achieve such an end. The consideration of criminal law as ultima ratio makes us estimate that, despite their incorrectness, they do not exceed the line of criminal offence”.
Akapo in Granada, February 28, 2022: LaLiga acted in the same way in the case of Carlos Akapo, a player at the time for Cádiz CF, who also suffered racist insults at the Estadio de los Cármenes during the match against Granada CF on February 28, 2022. On this occasion, it is worth It should be noted that Granada CF identified the fan, who also voluntarily appeared before the police. As a result of LaLiga’s complaint, the Hate Crimes Prosecutor’s Office filed a complaint with the investigative courts of Granada. Currently, the person responsible for the insults has already declared before the Examining Court No. 2 of Granada, and in the near future the player Carlos Akapo will give a statement.
Vinicius Jr in Madrid, September 18, 2022: The racist shouts against Vinicius Jr on September 18, 2022 were also denounced inside and outside the Cívitas Metropolitano stadium, before and during the Atlético de Madrid – Real Madrid match. The case was archived by the Hate Prosecutor’s Office because “there is no specific act to impute to a specific person and once the racist insults have been contextualized, they would not constitute a crime against the dignity of the person affected under article 510.2 a) of the CP either. . And this based on the fact that they are unpleasant, inappropriate and disrespectful, since they were spilled on the occasion of the celebration of a soccer match of maximum rivalry, with other derogatory or mocking allusions marked by that sporting competition, together with their nature to that they were not reiterated beyond the two acts exposed and that they lasted a few seconds ”.
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