The following incidents of racism, xenophobia, extreme nationalism or homophobia have been reported to Fare during February 2018. This list is only likely to reflect a proportion of the incidents that occurred.

All reports have been brought to Fare’s attention through eyewitness or media accounts. A Fare observer scheme is also currently at place at UEFA club competitions to monitor discriminatory behaviour.

Fare has third party reporting status with UEFA, and FIFA on international matches, and at a national level we can support incident reports made by our members.

The general public can keep us informed of national and international level incidents through the reporting form here.

01 February 2018 – West Ham United: Tony Henry

West Ham United Director of Player Recruitment Tony Henry made racists comments about the club’s African players; stating that he would not sign any more African players because they have “a bad attitude and cause mayhem”. West Ham have since suspended and sacked Tony Henry.

04 February 2018 – Spanish La Liga: RCD Espanyol v FC Barcelona

Approximately 450 RCD Espanyol fans from the “Grada Canito” section of the stadium directed homophobic abuse towards FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué and directed sexist/misogynist chants towards the club.

04 February 2018 – Spanish Second Division: Real Oviedo v Real Sporting de Gijón

Approximately 600 Sporting fans directed sexist chants towards Real Oviedo during the first half of the match.

04 February 2018 – Player Paloma García

Two men physically attacked amateur footballer Paloma García after a match in Guadalope. The player was attacked because she is a female playing football.

04 February 2018 – Spanish Amateur Third Division: S.D. Oyonesa v C.D. Villegas

Villegas player Christian Borikó was racially abused by a group of Oyonesa fans during the match.

04 February 2018 – Belgian First Division A: Club Brugge KV v RCS Charleroi

Charleroi player Francis N’Ganga was subjected to racist chants during the match by a group of Club Brugge fans.

04 February 2018 – Portuguese Third Division: S.C. Espinho v Pedras Rubras

Espinho Cape Verdean player Gilson Varela was subjected to racist abuse during the match by a group of Espinho’s fans.

04 February 2018 – Austrian Bundesliga: Rapid Wien v Austria Wien

Groups from both sets of fans exchanged homophobic chanting towards each other throughout the match. A group of Rapid fans also unveiled a homophobic banner.

05 February 2018 – LIGA MX Femenil: Santos Laguna v Chivas de Guadalajara

A Laguna fan directed sexist and misogynistic chants towards Chivas goalkeeper Bianca Félix as she took goal kicks during the match.

05 February 2018 – English Premier League: Watford v Chelsea 

A group of Chelsea fans sang anti-Semitic chants during the match.

07 February 2018 – Dutch Eredivisie: Roda JC v AFC Ajax

A group of Roda JC fans directed monkey chants towards Ajax goalkeeper André Onana.

08 February 2018 – Sports programme Esporte Interativo

Brazilian TV sports programme Esporte Interativo made a homophobic reference towards São Paulo FC by using an image of a deer when advertising the club’s upcoming match.

08 February 2018 – Belgian FA Cup: Club Brugge v Standard Liège

Standard Liège player Paul-José Mpoku stated that during the match a group of home fans directed racist chants towards the player.

10 February 2018 – English League One: Oxford United v Bristol Rovers

A group of Oxford United fans directed homophobic slurs towards Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Adam Smith.

10 February 2018 – French Ligue 1: Dijon FCO v OGC Nice

Nice forward Mario Balotelli was subjected to monkey chants made by a group of Dijon fans.

14 February 2018 – Recopa Sudamericana: Independiente v Grêmio

Two Independiente fans were caught on video making monkey gestures towards the Grêmio fans during the match.

17 February 2018 – Andalusian Regional Second Division: A.D. Los Cortijillos v Alma de Africa U.D.

The match was abandoned at half time after Alma player Semedo Pedro was physically attacked by a member of Los Cortijillos in the locker room.

19 February 2018 – Bay Football Club: Bill Darwin 

Bill Darwin the Chairman of Kinmel Bay Football Club and the North Wales Football League has accused the Welsh FA of sexism after the football association insisted reserve teams of female clubs playing in the Welsh Premier league should play in the leagues below.

21 February 2018 – Copa Libertadores (Under 20s): Nacional v São Paulo

São Paulo player Hélio Júnio (known as Helinho) was racially abused by a group of home fans.

21 February 2018 – TV Presenter: Beto Brasil

Beto Brasil, presenters of the Brazilian TV programme Os Donos da Bola, asked questions of sexist nature while interviewing Karol Barbosa, muse of Goiás Esporte Clube. TV Goiâna have taken programme Os Donos da Bola off air in response to the incident and issued an apology to Barbosa.

22 February 2018 – FOX Sports: Edilson Capetinha

Edilson made racist comments about Palmerias player Jailson Marcelino dos Santos live on air.

22 February 2018 – UEFA Europa League: Dynamo Kyiv v AEK Athens

A group of Dynamo Kiev fans performed Nazi salutes, displayed neo-Nazi scarves and chanted far right slogans during the match.

A report was sent to UEFA for action.

22 February 2018 – UEFA Europa League: Atalanta v Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund player Michy Batshuayi was racially abused by a group of Atalanta fans who directed monkey chants towards the player.

A report was sent to UEFA for action.

22 February 2018 – CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores: Jorge Wilstermann v Vasco da Gama

A group of home fans directed monkey chants and gestures towards the Vasco da Gama team as they warmed up for the match.

24 February 2018 – Panamanian Premier League: Chorrillo FC v Alianza FC

The President of Alianza FC, Rubén Cárdenas Jr. made a racist comment about Chorrillo player Elkin Mosquera. The President called the player a gorilla during the match.

28 February 2018 – Spanish First Division: Málaga v Sevilla

Large groups of both home and away fans exchanged sexist and misogynistic chants towards each other during the match.

28 February 2018 - National League South: Whitehawk FC v Gloucester AFC

A small number of Gloucester fans distributed racist material during the match.

Social Media 

Twitter: Kick it Out LGBT Inclusion Campaign     

Several homophobic tweets were posted in response to a video released by Kick it Out promoting LGBT inclusion.

Instagram: António Eduardo Pereira dos Santos

An individual made a racist comment on Instragam next to a photograph of Esporte Clube Vitória player António Eduardo Pereira dos Santos (known as Kanu).

Sanctions

CONMEBOL: Independiente

Independiente were fined $15,000 after fans made monkey gestures towards Flamengo fans during the first final of the Copa Sudamericana played on the 6^th December 2017.

Deutsche Fussball-Bund: Energie Cottbus

Energie Cottbus were fined €7,000 and must player their next match against SV Babelsberg 03 behind closed doors after the incidents of neo-Nazism carried out by their fans during the match played on the 28^th April 2017 between the two teams.

Panama Football Association: Rubén Cárdenas Jr

Rubén Cárdenas Jr, President of Alianza FC, was banned from attending matches for 30 days after racially abused a player from an opposing team.

Sports Court of the Amazons: Nacional Fast Club

Nacional Fast Club were fined $1,000, deducted 3 points and lost their right to choose where their fixtures can be played for their fans’ racist abuse of Wescley Regison, assistant referee of the match against Penarol, played 27^th January 2018.

UEFA: FK Crvena zvezda

On the 5th January 2018, FK Crvena zvezda were fined €50,000 and had to play their next UEFA competition match at home behind closed doors due to the discriminatory behaviour of the away fans against BATE Borisov played on the 23^rd November 2017. On appeal, the sanction has been reduced to €30,000 and the second sanction concerning the stadium closure has been placed on a probationary period of two years.