Atletico ban nine fans after crowd trouble, racism

Atletico Madrid on Friday permanently banned nine of their supporters from attending matches after incidents of crowd trouble and racist behaviour.

A La Liga clash against rivals Real Madrid on September 29 at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium was halted by officials after some supporters threw objects including lighters onto the pitch.

Atletico were also fined by UEFA when some of their supporters were found guilty of “racist and discriminatory” behaviour during a 4-0 Champions League thrashing at Benfica on October 2.

“Our security department has worked on identifying those involved in these events by reviewing all the audio-visual materials at its disposal and in collaboration with the police,” said Atletico in a statement.

“This process was finalised by (setting in motion) the permanent expulsion of nine club members for actions considered in the club’s internal protocol to be very serious (offences)…

“Once again we reiterate our strongest condemnation of any type of violence and our commitment to fight against this sort of attitude that has no place in football and does not represent the general feeling of our fans and tarnishes the image of Atletico Madrid.”

After the incidents during the 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, Atletico were hit with a partial stadium closure for three matches by the Spanish football federation, although that was reduced to one game on appeal.

In October Spanish police said they arrested four males suspected of inciting an online hate campaign targeting Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior before the game.

The viral social media campaign encouraged Atletico fans to arrive at the stadium with masks on to thwart attempts to identify them while uttering “degrading and discriminatory insults with racist connotations,” said police.

Atletico also said they had added to their internal regulations “the prohibition of using (anything) to prevent a person’s face from being seen in order to hide their identity in the stadium.”