The Police may suspend or even evict any sporting event in which racist incidents occur. This is what is dictated by the latest instruction from the Ministry of the Interior to strengthen prevention and response measures against this type of incident of a violent and discriminatory nature. The circular, published this Monday by the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, reinforces and improves the instruments of the agents in the stadiums after cases of racist insults such as those received a few weeks ago by the Real Madrid player Vinícius in the match against Valencia at the Mestalla stadium.
It will be monitored both inside the stadiums and in the surrounding areas and means of transport if there is an attempt to "attack the dignity of the harassed and create an intimidating, humiliating or offensive environment." Instruction 8/2023 of the Secretary of State for Security states that in the event of a racist incident, the Security Coordinator may propose to the referee or sports judge of the event not to start, paralyze or suspend its celebration, as well as to evict part of the event. or the entire compound to put an end to incidents. Said suspension may be temporary or permanent.
The measure reinforces the field of action of the security coordinator, a function exercised by a member of the State Security Forces and Bodies within the provisions of the law against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport, and it seeks to "systematize" the action before "any expression of discrimination or intolerance in sporting events".
One of the racist incidents that became more internationally relevant was the one that occurred at the Mestalla when the Brazilian Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior denounced racist chants during the league match against Valencia CF on 21 May.
Interior recalls that the security coordinator will file a detailed report or complaint if the organizer of the sporting event does not cooperate. This coordinator must, in addition, urge the initiation of disciplinary proceedings for the infractions provided for in the law, as well as draw up the corresponding certificate for the purposes of debugging responsibility in the criminal, administrative or disciplinary field.
According to the Interior instruction, the list of behaviors that can cause the suspension of a competition or the eviction of the public include statements, gestures or insults made in the same sports spaces. Also the intonation of chants, sounds or slogans with vexatious messages, whether for reasons of racial, ethnic, geographical or social origin, as well as for religious reasons, sexual orientation and identity, gender expression or sexual characteristics.
Interior has reported that what it seeks is to "systematize the criteria" of action and lists the behaviors that can lead to the suspension of a competition or the eviction of the public, which includes "acts of harassment in the venue where the test takes place , in its surroundings or in public means of transport that have the same motivation and whose objective or consequence is to violate the dignity of the harassed and create an intimidating, humiliating or offensive environment".
The suspension can also be decided when a "natural or legal person issues statements with the intention of wide dissemination or transmits information in which a person or group is threatened, insulted or harassed due to racial, ethnic, geographical or social origin, as well as by religion, convictions, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity, gender expression or sexual characteristics".
The instruction also indicates the "statements, gestures or insults" made in the same sports spaces, as well as the "singing of chants, sounds or slogans and the display of banners, flags, symbols or other signs that contain humiliating or intimidating messages for any person for the same reasons, as well as those that incite hatred between individuals and groups or that seriously violate the rights, freedoms and values proclaimed in the Constitution".
In a statement, the Ministry of the Interior has indicated that the instruction of the Secretary of State "responds to the profusion of incidents registered in sporting events of all kinds when, in the heat of competitive rivalry and under the protection of the feeling of impunity that the anonymity of the masses, certain fans express an aggressive speech of intolerance, hatred and discrimination towards the rival, frequently with racist, xenophobic or homophobic overtones".
The department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska adds that this type of vexatious expression of "manifest contempt for the dignity of the person" in extreme cases can constitute the prelude to the subsequent commission of hate crimes or other antisocial and violent acts.
Interior recalls that these behaviors are prosecutable in the case of sport "regardless of whether these incidents occur in the sports venue, in its surroundings or in public or organized means of transport that go to the place of competition, or are disclosed to through the media."
"In the case of the organizers, the permissiveness, organization, active participation or encouragement and promotion of this type of behavior is also punishable, as well as support for activities of clubs, associations, groups or groups of fans that fail to comply with the aforementioned law. ", says the Ministry.
