Football Federation in England has recently asked for a venue change for the pre-scheduled friendly match against Spain in February 2009, indicating England’s bitter experience of 2004 when they last visited Spain. England players were racially abused by a portion of a crowd at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium during that visit. With England going to face Spain in a friendly match in February 11 at Santiago Bernabeu, the racism issue has come in the forefront once again.
Spanish midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, who plays for Arsenal in English premier league, has recently claimed that Spanish are not racist. He admitted that he could realize how England players had felt being racially abused, but he did not think that there was still any point to generalize Spanish fans as racist.
Telegraph reported:
"I don't know if racism is the word," said Fabregas, who has won 35 caps for Spain. "I had not yet broken into the Spanish team for that game four years ago, but a good friend and teammate of mine, Cole, played with England and he felt hurt.
"The players may have returned to England annoyed, but I do not think we have got to the point where Spaniards are viewed as racists. I don't think we are – it is a bit extreme.
"It is necessary to reduce the importance of this charge because in football the fans are always going to support the team and be behind us."
I also agree with Fabregas on this regard. Yes, it is really bad that a portion of crowd singled out some England players and threw racist comment to them, but still, I do not see any ground to say that Spanish fans are racist overall. In every country, there are some mentally ill people who get heavenly enjoyment by abusing others racially. However, the good thing is that they are very few in number. Moreover, Santiago Bernabeu is one of the most prominent football stadiums in the world and they have some great fans who are as passionate as English fans for the football.
I just hope that England will visit Santiago Bernabeu once again to face Spain in a friendly match. Hopefully, the match will be ended in a friendly manner without seeing the repetition of the same incident.
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