Spain handed partial stadium closure after discriminatory chants v Egypt

Spain must play their next international friendly with a partial stadium closure after supporters sang a discriminatory chant about Muslims multiple times during a game against Egypt on 31 March. The friendly match in Barcelona ended in a 0-0 draw Spain must play their next international friendly with a partial stadium closure after supporters sang a discriminatory chant about Muslims during a game against Egypt on 31 March. A group of Spain home fans were heard chanting around the 10th minute of the first half, and once more at the beginning of the second half. An anti-discrimination message warning fans was displayed on the screen at the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona – and was repeated early in the second half, leading to whistles from some sections of the crowd.

Fifa subsequently opened disciplinary proceedings against the Spanish Football Association (RFEF) for "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants. Following the incident the RFEF condemned the anti-Muslim chants while Spain coach Luis de la Fuente called them "intolerable" and said "violent people use football to carve out a space for themselves". But in the written reasons published by Fifa, RFEF argued that the chants did not constitute discriminatory conduct, an argument that was rejected by the disciplinary committee. It noted that the RFEF could not "persuasively maintain both that the chant was entirely harmless