LaLiga president Javier Tebas has demanded prison sentences for fans who racially abuse players during matches.
Tebas welcomed the ruling given by a Spanish court this week to hand a 12-month suspended sentence to a Mallorca supporter that used racists insults against Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze in February 2023.
“This sentence is one of many that may come of those [cases] that are still pending, at judicial level,” Tebas told ESPN. “We will continue until the end; if we have to put in jail those that shout or sing about racism, we will be there.”
Racism in football has been recurring problem in Spain, with Madrid’s Vinícius repeatedly being harassed by some opposing fans.
Getafe’s Nigerian midfielder Christantus Uche this week hit out at racist insults he said he’s been subjected to from fans in Spanish stadiums.
Uche, 21, is in his first season in LaLiga after joining Getafe this summer from lower-league side Ceuta.
“I would have liked him [Uche] to have told me,” Tebas said. “What I ask him is that he does not allow this to happen, that he reports it to his club, to LaLiga, and we will take the appropriate measures. Had we detected it, you can be sure that those people would have been identified and expelled, as has happened in the case of Vinícius and others.
“We have special cameras in the risk zones of the matches where we believe there may be an outcry.”
Tebas has praised the active participation of the public in the stands who point out racist behaviour.
“It’s one of the things that has made the Vinícius case different,” Tebas said. “Before, people didn’t point, now they point their finger and say they don’t want these people in football.”
Tebas also said that he believes Vinícius, who won LaLiga and Champions League with Madrid last season, is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or — a demonstration of the ongoing strength of LaLiga’s talent.
“I think Vinícius will either finish first or second,” Tebas said. “This proves that LaLiga still has great players. Among the favourites are many Spaniards … I hope one day a player in the Premier League will be able to win a Ballon d’Or as since 2008 [when Cristiano Ronaldo won it at Manchester United] they have not won one.
“We’ve won a lot more. We’ve been criticised, that stars have left [LaLiga] and there it is, we have candidates to the Ballon d’Or every season.”