Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal receives racist insults at the Bernabéu stadium

The 17-year-old midfielder was attacked during Saturday’s Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga.

Spanish media reported that Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal, 17, of Equatoguinean and Moroccan descent, was subjected to xenophobic and racist abuse at the Bernabéu. Barcelona did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.

“Real Madrid strongly condemns any type of behavior that involves racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the corners of the stadium,” Real Madrid said in a statement. announced on Sunday.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga have taken steps to address the rise in racist abuse with measures including partial stadium closures.

Four people were arrested and questioned in Spain on Thursday on suspicion of carrying out an online hate campaign encouraging fans to racially abuse Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Vinicius Jr in the build-up to their match against Atlético Madrid on last month.

In June, the Valencia Magistrate’s Court handed down the first conviction for racist insults in a football stadium in Spain.