Atletico Madrid avoid stadium ban for racism towards Athletic Club’s Nico Williams

Atletico Madrid have become the second club in quick succession to escape a stadium ban for racial abuse. The incident goes back to Athletic Club’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico at the Metropolitano in April.

Nico Williams was approaching the corner flag when he heard monkey noises from the local support, and stopped to face his abuser. Atletico say the police have identified the abuser in question, and suspended their membership while the legal process is carried out. They expect to ban said fan permanently if they are found guilty.

JUST IN: Atlético Madrid does not consider the return of João Félix. Diego Simeone does not want him, and neither does the locker room. They are all tired of his faces and gestures.

He will not stay at Atlético Madrid under any circumstances.

[: @medinamarca, @marca] pic.twitter.com/SWrIW93ptH

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 9, 2024

The Competition Committee had adjudicated a partial stadium ban for two games at the Metropolitano in the section that the abuse came from. However after an appeal by Atletico, the ban has been scrapped, as per Marca. The ruling was that as Atletico had acted fast and collaborated to address the ‘isolated incident, which came down to a single fan’, the punishment did not fit the crime.

This follows a similar incident, where Sevilla left-back Marcos Acuna was racially abused by Getafe fans, and Los Azulones were also handed a stadium ban. On appeal, their ban was also scrapped. La Liga have spoken at length at their efforts to reduce racism and come down hard on it, but without the backing of the relevant authorities, in this case the RFEF, they remain empty threats.

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