Police investigating Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at Spain-Egypt match

The Spanish national team returned to Catalonia on Tuesday night with a World Cup preparation friendly against Egypt, but racist chanting from the stands soured the evening. 

The Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra police are investigating Islamophobic and xenophobic chants during the match at the RCDE Stadium, in Cornellà-El Prat.

During the game, fans chanting "whoever's not jumping is a Muslim," directed toward the Egypt players.

The police force announced in a message on social media on Wednesday mornign that they have opened an investigation.

Both Spain's Minister of Sports, Berni Álvarez, and Minister of Equality, Eva Menor, have condemned the "unacceptable" chants.

Álvarez also criticized in an interview with SER Catalunya that activating in-game protocols were "late," and said that action should have been taken "firmly" in the face of a "serious" incident.

 

Lamine Yamal slams chants

The FC Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal has criticized the racist chants.

"Using religion as a mockery on a pitch makes you look like ignorant and racist people," the player said in a post on social media.

"As a Muslim person, it's a lack of respect and something intolerable," he added.

Yamal began his message with a reminder that he is a practicing Muslim, followed by the Arabic expression 'alhamdulillah', which means "thanks to God."

Yamal stressed that football is a sport "to enjoy and cheer on," and not to "disrespect people for who they are or what they believe in."

The teenage superstar finished the message by thanking the people who attended the stadium to cheer the team on.