Spanish federation fined by FIFA
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Article summary
The Spanish Football Federation has been fined €65,000 by FIFA for racist chanting at the friendly against England.
Article body
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been fined €65,000 by FIFA following racist chanting at November's international friendly match with England in Madrid.
Players targeted
World football's ruling body announced the punishment this afternoon following a meeting of its disciplinary committee. Several black England players were targeted by sections of the crowd during their 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid CF's Santiago Bernabéu stadium on 17 November.
Strong stance
The punishment also took into account racist abuse at the Under-21 match the previous evening. FIFA warned in a statement that any repeat of the racist behaviour could result in Spain playing behind closed doors or expulsion from one or several FIFA competitions.
Madrid punished
Real Madrid, meanwhile, were fined €9,780 by UEFA on 10 December following the racist behaviour of some of their supporters during the UEFA Champions League game with Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 23 November.
