Police investigate Islamophobic chants during Spain’s match with Egypt

Spanish police have launched an investigation into Islamophobic ⁠and xenophobic chants ⁠during a friendly against Egypt, which also drew sharp criticism from Spain’s football officials and the government.

At the ⁠RCDE Stadium near Barcelona, the home ground of La Liga club Espanyol, Spain supporters chanted “Whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim” during the ⁠World Cup warm-up match on Tuesday, which ended in a goalless draw.

Justice Minister Felix Bolanos denounced the chants on social media platform X, reiterating the left-wing government’s stance against the rise of the far right, which it ‌associates with growing racism and xenophobia.

“Racist insults and chants shame us as a society. The far-right will not leave any space free of its hatred, and those who remain silent today are complicit,” he wrote.

It was the latest in a string of similar incidents to overshadow Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular repeatedly racially abused.

During the game on Tuesday night, the stadium displayed messages on overhead screens, reminding fans that taking part in acts of racism and xenophobia was a crime, yet the chants ⁠continued.

Spain’s coach Luis de la Fuente told reporters that the racist behaviour of fans was unacceptable.

“They ⁠are not representative of football. They take ⁠advantage of football, as they do in other areas of life. We need to isolate these people from society,” he said.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation said in a ‌message on social media that it “stands against racism in football and condemns any act of violence inside stadiums”.

Catalonia’s regional police force, Mossos ‌d’Esquadra, ‌said on Wednesday they had opened an investigation into the incident, without providing further details.

Also on Wednesday, Spanish football superstar Lamine Yamal, who is Muslim, slammed the “intolerable” chants.

“[The chanting] was aimed at the opposing team and was not something personal against me, but as a Muslim it is still a lack of respect and something intolerable,” Lamal wrote on Instagram.

“To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist.”

The game in Catalonia was moved from Qatar due to the war in the Middle East, and was played out in a hostile environment from the start.

The European champions were wasteful in attack in their penultimate friendly on home turf before they face Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H in North America this June and July.

Spain are reportedly set to play Iraq on June 4 before playing Peru in Mexico four days later in their final games before the World Cup.

Veteran coach de la Fuente made 10 changes from Friday’s 3-0 friendly win over Serbia, with Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal the only player to keep his place.

Egypt were without their talisman, Mohamed Salah, with the Liverpool attacker sidelined since suffering a muscle problem against Galatasaray on March 18.

The English club are hopeful he could return in this weekend’s FA Cup quarterfinal against Manchester City.

The hosts had the best of the early chances with Ferran Torres unlucky not to score after 20 minutes.

Just before the half-hour mark, against the run of play, Egypt’s Manchester City attacker Omar Marmoush hit the post, underlining his side’s potential at the World Cup when they face Belgium, Iran and New Zealand in Group G.

The hosts took control again after the break, with Pedri denied after 57 minutes and Cristhian Mosquera’s header edged wide 13 minutes later.

With six minutes to go, Egypt were reduced to 10 men with defensive midfielder Hamdy Fathy being shown a second yellow card.

Two minutes later, de la Fuente’s side wasted another chance with left-back Alejandro Grimaldo hitting the crossbar in their final chance to break the deadlock.