Osasuna has come forward to respond to reports suggesting racist behavior at El Sadar during the match against Real Madrid last day in the EA Sports League. The Navarrese club has issued a statement defending that its fans, "for the most part, had excellent behavior despite the painful result" (2-4).
"Club Atlético Osasuna wishes to clarify that no racist chant was uttered. Likewise, it will demand immediate rectification from the media that have offered information that does not conform to reality and will file a complaint against those who persist in the fallacy. The club will not tolerate to tarnish the reputation of the fans, which throughout its history has been known precisely for its anti-racist stance," the Pamplona entity begins its writing.
The red parish did have a fight with Vinícius, whom they addressed with offensive expressions such as "Vinícius, die." As he has done in many other games, the Brazilian faced the El Sadar fans, to whom he made gestures after scoring the fourth goal of the game. The Real Madrid player pointed to his ear and challenged the fans to continue chanting against him.
"Osasuna wants to show its rejection of the insults that in no case had racist references and that a minority uttered last Saturday in El Sadar. The club rejects this type of chants that, unfortunately, its players also have to suffer when they visit other stadiums of LaLiga", the Navarrese club condemned other types of insults, probably those referring to Vinícius.
The red entity continues by ensuring that "it assumes the mission of continuing with its awareness-raising work to eradicate, no matter how minority it may be, any behavior that does not conform to the values of the sport", but it also sends a message to the footballers whose attitude is not adjusts to those values, perhaps in reference to Vinícius. "Players must foster attitudes of respect towards their opponents and referees, and it is the obligation of each club to educate its professionals in the same," he defends.
Osasuna insists on the club's "commitment" to the fight against racism and as an example remembers its adherence to the campaign related to the World Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination promoted by LaLiga, precisely exhibited in El Sadar before the match against Real Madrid.
"The Osasuna players took to the field, like 17 other LaLiga EA Sports clubs, with commemorative t-shirts of the campaign. Real Madrid did not, who chose to customize their own garment with a motto against racism Likewise, Osasuna regrets that it was not possible to take a joint photograph of both teams staging the union of all against racism," he insists on this issue.
For its part, Real Madrid issued a statement, before Osasuna, denouncing that the match referee, Martínez Munuera, "deliberately" omitted the insults from the stands towards Vinícius. The truth is that the referee does not have the obligation to collect these types of offenses if they are not racist in nature. For this type of situation, the delegate of the Federation and a representative of LaLiga are in the stands, who did record the chants towards the Brazilian in their reports.
