The City Council of Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona) has “roundly” condemned those of Tuesday at the RCDE Stadium and has regretted that the name of the city has been “genericly linked to the events.” “We cannot tolerate any expression of racism nor the stigmatization of an entire city for specific behaviors that do not represent its citizens,” said the mayor, Antonio Balmón, this Thursday in a statement from the City Council.
The incidents, he stressed, occurred in a specific space, and by a very specific group of people, which is why they do not see it as fair to transfer this behavior to the city as a whole. They have also insisted that generalizing these facts contributes to projecting a “distorted” image that does not correspond to the values of coexistence, respect and diversity that define Cornellà.
Thus, the city council has expressed the need to act “with the utmost firmness” in the face of these racist behaviors in sport. “These facts are absolutely incompatible with the values that must govern sport and coexistence in a democratic society,” the statement says.
The chants occurred at various points during the friendly match on Tuesday, when a part of the stands chanted Islamophobic slogans, such as “Muslim who does not bounce”, and whistles were also recorded during the Egyptian anthem.
The General Information Commissariat of the Mossos d’Esquadra has already opened an investigation in coordination with the Hate and Discrimination Prosecutor’s Office to determine whether the chants can constitute a hate crime, as well as to try to identify the people who instigated them.
