The Spanish Football Federation condemned the racist chants made by some fans at Espanyol’s stadium during the friendly match between Egypt and Spain on Tuesday.
Racist chants against Muslims at the Egypt-Spain match
Fans at the RCDE stadium booed the Egyptian national anthem before the match, in a strange and disrespectful act towards Egyptians despite the good relations between the two nations.
This incident is the latest in a series of similar events that have plagued Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker, Vinicius Junior, in particular, being subjected to repeated racist abuse.
Lamine Yamal Affected by Anti-Muslim Chants
According to the newspaper “Sport,” Spanish national team star Lamine Yamal was deeply angered by the racist chants against Muslims, which negatively impacted his performance during the match.
Cameras captured Yamal in a state of shock during the racist chants. Because of the incident, the player of Moroccan descent chose not to make any statements or comment on the match, either to the media or on his social media accounts.
Expressing his anger, Yamal refused to participate in the post-match farewell ceremony at Espanyol’s stadium and left the pitch behind a security guard, his face grim.
Spain Condemns Fans’ Actions in Egypt Match
Rafael Lozan, president of the Spanish Football Federation, stated: “What we have done is condemn this type of behavior and emphasize the need to prevent its recurrence,” describing the incidents as “specific and isolated cases.”
De la Fuente also condemned the behavior of a section of the 35,000-strong crowd, telling reporters as soon as he took his seat in the press conference room: “It’s unacceptable.”
The 64-year-old coach added: “Violent people use football to create space for themselves. They must be removed from society, identified, and kept away as much as possible.”
Catalan Sports Minister Berni Álvarez also condemned the incident, calling it “premeditated.”
“It was regrettable,” Álvarez said. “It’s a very serious and worrying issue that we condemn. What happened is a step backward for many years. The anti-Muslim chants during the Spain-Egypt match were premeditated; everything was planned.”
Fans were asked to refrain from engaging in discriminatory behaviour during Spain’s friendly against Egypt after sections of the Spanish crowd were heard performing an anti-Muslim chant.
In the first ten minutes of Tuesday’s fixture, sections of the the home crowd at Espanyol’s… pic.twitter.com/bJufYfJIqP
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) March 31, 2026
He added, “Those of us who had no role in organizing the match informed the Spanish Football Federation at halftime that they either implemented the anti-racism protocol or we would leave the stadium.”
He concluded, “It’s incomprehensible that the Egyptian national anthem was booed; it was premeditated. They came to the match to unleash hate speech. Some of the chants were completely inappropriate for a friendly match.”
