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FIFA’s Appeal Committee has rejected an appeal by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) against sanctions imposed over anti-Muslim chants by spectators during a friendly match against Egypt in March.
The RFEF announced the decision on Friday, confirming that the punishment for the incident at the stadium in Cornellà, Spain, would stand.
During the March 31 match, played at Espanyol’s home ground, some spectators chanted, “whoever doesn’t jump is Muslim”, prompting condemnation from players and officials.
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On August 4, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee fined the RFEF $20,000 (€17,800) and ordered the partial closure of the stadium for Spain’s next home friendly, requiring at least 15 per cent of the venue to remain closed.
In its response on Friday, the RFEF maintained that its own monitoring systems had detected the misconduct. It said stadium announcements were made at half-time and during the second half to urge spectators to stop the chants, while messages were also displayed on the stadium’s video screens.
The federation added that it had fully cooperated with efforts to identify those responsible for the incident and would challenge the appeal decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal, who featured for Spain in the match and is Muslim, condemned the chanting at the time, describing it as disrespectful and unacceptable.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente also denounced the incident, calling the chants intolerable. He said people who used football to promote violence and hostility should be identified and removed from the sport and wider society.
The Egyptian Football Association also condemned the incident, describing it as a racist act by spectators who had crossed acceptable boundaries.
