La Liga: Racism isn’t just a football problem, but a cultural one in Spain

Last weekend saw the 40-goal haul steal all of the headlines in La Liga, both nationally and internationally. For a league that is often labelled predictable by casual viewers, the opening day threw up plenty of surprises. All three newly promoted sides avoided defeat against more established opponents, Leganes even managing to beat Europa League qualifiers Celta Vigo. Las Palmas overcome Valencia 4-2 at the Mestalla while Sporting Gijon bested Athletic Club. All of those made headlines either locally or nationally, but one story was notably absent, or better yet, hidden: the racist abuse suffered by Iñaki Williams.

As RealMadrid TV’s Phil Kitomilides pondered on Twitter, “Imagine the outrage, indignation and introspection if a Premier League referee had to stop a game because of racist chanting.” Yes, you’re reading that right, the match between Sporting Gijon and Athletic Club had to halted by the official after audible monkey chants were heard whenever Iñaki Williams touched the ball. But this incident amazingly didn’t make the main headlines on any of national newspapers. Most didn’t even offer more than a line or so during the match report. A match, in a major European league, stopped due to racist chanting and seemingly no one bats an eyelid. Incredible.

There’s a problem with La Liga, and in particular its president Javier Tebas, as he’s made it his own personal legacy to bring ‘the brand’ to the level of the Premier League. A lot of money has been invested in making the product visually better, with more cameras at stadiums and the production levels being cleaner and crisper, all to match those enjoyed each week in England. This season has seen the introduction of dressing room footage, shown usually at the end of the game or at halftime. It’s supposed to bring the fans closer to the product, to the players. All in the name of improving the brand- and that’s why racism gets buried as quickly as it does, to protect the progress Tebas has made.

The main issue is that people in Spain don’t speak up when they see racism. It’s not uncommon to hear certain expressions or ‘jokes’ based purely on the origin of a person, or the colour of their skin. The Spanish rightly pride themselves on being an open, welcoming country but there’s no question that it’s a lot more welcoming if you’re of a certain background. That isn’t to say if you’re not; you won’t be welcomed, as the majority of people are very open and respectable. But once you’ve integrated a little, you begin to see things that perhaps wouldn’t be considered correct back home.

I remember in one of my first days here we ran into some friends and naturally spent far too long in the street talking as they babbled about everything from what they’d done that morning to who has split up from who. Gossip is king in Spain. At one point a man stood next to us trying to sell T-shirts and boxer shorts and a member of the group walked further away from him and I asked why. “I don’t know. He’s black.” I just stood there completely dumbfounded. My Spanish at that time was limited but even if I could speak, I’d have probably remained speechless.

If you have something different to the majority, whether it be nationality or skin colour, you are often judged based on stereotypes or hearsay. The English, for example, are largely seen as crazy party animals who wear socks and sandals while they leap from their balconies into the swimming pool. Wrong, and ultimately harmless, but they won’t ever stop making ‘jokes’ about the same subject in almost every occasion you’re with them.

Now before I carry on I don’t want you to feel I’m painting Spain or its people in a bad light. Since my very first day the hospitality and kindness shown to me has been unrivalled by anything I’d ever experienced before. Above all else I consider Spain my home now. In the early days friends would spend all night talking to me about football, as I could understand names, teams and the odd swear word. They knew I had no idea and sometimes I’d make a comment in Spanish and they’d laugh and I wouldn’t know if what I’d said was funny or if they thought I was a complete idiot. Still trying to work that one out actually.

However it’s at football where that raw, uncontrolled side emerges. We, as fans, can descend into an almost primitive nature as we scream with joy or horror as events transpire. I often find myself turning to the guy hurling abuse at a player after they’ve made a mistake, you all know the type, and think: “Really?” We lose our inhibitions when we’re so engrossed in the match, swearing like Frankie Boyle and wanting the referee’s head on a plate as if we’e Joffrey Baratheon. But in Spain, sometimes, that anger can turn into racism and abuse.

In the 2014/15 season La Liga introduced a zero tolerance approach to abuse from the stands. Now this ranged from the extremes of racism and xenophobia to saying ‘f-off [Sevilla]’, for example. Now while the majority of us accept the former shouldn’t exist in football, good old fashioned rivalry like the latter is harder to clamp down on. Clubs were threatened with fines if they failed to comply as once again, nothing could be seen to damage ‘the brand’. They wanted to promote a family atmosphere which is admirable yet ultimately doomed to fail, plus you can find family specific stands at most grounds these days.

However the blanket ban on anything which could be deemed offensive riled the ultra groups up and down the country. You’ll notice a few years ago that some flags would contain swastikas and promote fascism and their members, still to this day, are involved in organised fights between fans. Faced with the prospect of large fines, clubs removed ultra groups or attempted to dilute them throughout the stand. If that failed they’d simply ban them altogether. This was supposed to eradicate the worst offenders and it has, for the most part.

This brings us on full circle to the attitude of most when they encounter racism at football, or in groups where they feel confident to say how they feel or what they want. For the lack of a better word, racism is often referred to as banter. People say there’s no malice intended and it’s done to stifle an opponent as opposed to cause them hurt, just as you’d make gestures and whistle as an opposition player prepared to take a corner in front of you. Yet however they want to dress it up, there’s no excuse or place for racism in football - and it most certainly can’t fall under the label of ‘banter’.

The incident involving Iñaki Williams proves that while inroads have been made to tackle abusive language from fans, the battle isn’t over. Two years ago saw a banana thrown at Dani Alves and a week later Papakouli Diop subjected to monkey chants. Both incidents received huge condemnation from England but less so in Spain. Villarreal banned the supporter who threw the banana for life and were fined just €12,000, whereas Atletico Madrid were fined even less (€10,000). In the same year Real Madrid were also forced to leave two sections of the Bernabeu empty after fans used racist language in their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich. There’s an underlying issue here in Spain and it needs to be dealt with.

Tiny slaps on the wrist to the tune of five-figure sums mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. In fact you can receive a bigger fine for not filling the visible stand of your stadium than you can for racism. How does that make any sense? As if ‘the brand’ is more valuable with the perception the stadium is full as opposed to clamping down on stone age racism. “Please don’t do that again” isn’t the solution. Hit clubs hard and see how quickly they themselves weed out the perpetrators, as most know who they are already.

Sporting fans even booed Iñaki Williams after play was stopped, as if he were to blame for pausing their enjoyment. AS report that LaLiga are considering the possibility of closing a section of El Molinon but you sense it won’t go that far. Another poultry fine, no doubt. But while those in Spain might bury their head in the sand about the latest incident, the rest of Europe won’t. if Javier Tebas is serious about making the LaLiga brand one of the leaders in sport, he needs to show ruthlessness in his verdict on Sporting’s fans.

When racism was prominent in England it took clubs and its own fans to self-regulate and out those doing wrong. Modern culture, especially online, is quick to label these people ‘grasses’ but there comes a time when doing the right thing is more important than being ‘cool’ amongst an internet fraternity. Racism has no place in football but until the punishment matches the crime and hurts the clubs, don’t expect any great inlays into solving the problem.