Spanish commission to discuss racism

The Spanish Anti-Violence Commission will tomorrow meet to discuss the racist behaviour witnessed in last week’s friendly international between Spain and England.

The commission is a government body that deals with the problem of violence in sport and is formed by members from Spain’s Ministry of the Interior and the Superior Sports Committee. Its decisions are legally binding.

The commission meets on a weekly basis to decide on policing for the following weekend’s football matches, which games should be declared as ‘high-risk’ and also to decide on punishments for infractions.

Therefore any club whose fans misbehave by displaying racist or fascist symbols, such as swastikas or pre-constitution Spanish flags, can expect a fine as can anyone who sets off flares or invades the pitch.

Barcelona fan ‘Jimmy Jump’ – who threw a Catalan flag at Luis Figo during this summer’s European Championship final – was fined €6,000 and banned from attending sporting events after running onto the pitch during Barca’s game in Bilbao three weeks ago.

Anyone who is convicted of racist chanting during last week’s friendly at the Bernabeu can probably expect a similar penalty, although given the sheer number of people involved, it would be surprising if any one person was singled out for punishment.

This week’s meeting will discuss the incidents in Madrid and also the events leading up to it, so Spain coach Luis Aragones’ words in which he talked about England’s colonial past will also be scrutinised.

Aragones will not have to appear before the Commission in person, but if they do consider his words to have provoked last week’s scenes, they could then open a further investigation.

Should that happen, it is hard to see how the Spanish FA could retain him as the man in charge of their national team, but bearing in mind Aragones’ constant denials that he has done nothing wrong, it appears the affair still has a long way to run.