Spanish Football Leaders Condemn "Intolerable" Racist Chants Against Egypt, Federation President Issues Apology

A friendly match between the Spanish and Egyptian national teams on Tuesday, which concluded in a goalless draw, was unfortunately overshadowed by racist chants emanating from a section of supporters at the RCDE Stadium. These incidents included chants of "whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim" heard during the first half, as well as booing of the Egyptian national anthem prior to kickoff.

Spain's head coach, Luis de la Fuente, unequivocally condemned the behavior after the match. "Everyone shares the same opinion: it is intolerable. We reject it absolutely," he stated. De la Fuente also noted that the stadium scoreboard displayed a warning and that the vast majority of fans whistled in disapproval of the perpetrators. He added, "The violent are not in football; they take advantage of football, as with all other facets of life. We have to turn our backs on them," emphasizing the need to isolate such individuals from the sport.

Spanish Football Federation President Rafael Louzan Also Denounces Behavior and Apologizes

Rafael Louzan, president of the Spanish Football Federation, echoed De la Fuente's sentiments, strongly condemning the racist actions. While expressing gratitude to the Barcelona fans for their attendance, Louzan highlighted the importance of sport as an example. "We condemn this type of specific and isolated situations that occur. Sport and football should be an example, not this. In the video scoreboards, we have condemned these attitudes and that they do not happen again," he explained.

Louzan further confirmed that he personally apologized to the president of the Egyptian Football Federation, who was present at the RCDE Stadium. He also spoke of the positive relationship with the visiting delegation despite the incident. "There was an extraordinary atmosphere of cordiality with the Egyptian delegation. I thanked the president of the federation for being here, and I also apologized (for the chants)," Louzan concluded, reiterating the federation's regret over the deplorable chants.