LaLiga and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Thursday morning that they will incorporate the racist gesture into the Protocol for Action on Crowd Incidents, approved on May 17 at the last FIFA congress in Bangkok. The main referee will be able to activate a signal with the gesture of crossing his arms with his hands on his shoulders if he “personally perceives racist behaviour” or if “a footballer or the security coordinator of the State Security Forces and Corps informs him of a discriminatory attitude”.
The Protocol of Actions against racism, xenophobia and intolerance in football, which was implemented in 2005, is consolidated with the incorporation of a specific gesture for cases of racism. “It is another step in the fight against racism, which ranges from regulations and sanctions to awareness and education to fight against any type of discrimination,” both organisations added.
The most recent case occurred last Sunday in the LaLiga Hypermotion match between Eldense and Almería. In the final minutes of the first half, a fan who was in the stands made racist comments against the Senegalese player of the Indálico team, Dion Lopy. Eldense acted and expelled the spectator from the stadium and repeated the messages of awareness against violence, racism and xenophobia over the loudspeaker and video scoreboards. A fact that was added to that of Vinicius at Mestalla in 2023 or those of Iñaki Williams at Molinón in 2016 and at Cornellá in 2020.
