La Liga, in partnership with EA Sports FC, launches the fourth edition of the ‘La Liga vs Racism’ campaign, a powerful initiative aimed at eradicating hate in football and beyond.
This year’s campaign, themed ‘Melting Pot of Cultures,’ highlights the role of football and art in fostering unity, diversity, and inclusion.
Racism in sport has been like a shadow at a feast - uninvited, unwelcomed and very hard to ignore, especially in a space that should be bringing joy and unity through the common love many have for the different sporting codes.
Racism in football is a persistent issue, reflected in hate speech, discrimination, and inequality. While European leagues have often been in the spotlight for racial abuse, similar challenges exist in football worldwide, highlighting the sport’s ongoing struggle against discrimination.
Easily amongst the top leagues in the world, the Spanish top flight has had its fair share of challenges with discrimination and racism.
Most recently, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior called out the league to take appropriate action against the offenders after he fell victim in matches against Athletico Madrid (2022) and Valencia (2023).
The perpetrators have been given bans but racism in the league still remains a burning topic and La Liga Brand Director Angel Fernandez believes it will take a collective effort to work towards ending the challenge at hand.
“The enemy is the feeling of impunity,” Fernandez said during a media conference.
“The feeling that you’re protected by being among the crowd is something we need to fight. Collective action is important if we want to end this feeling of impunity.
“La Liga, the clubs and the ministry here in Spain are working together to find a way to end the hate speech in stadiums and it is very important. The main learning here is to find the appropriate enemy in order to make this social progress because at the end of the day we are a very important part of society.”
La Liga has been one of the leagues with a high rate of reported racial abuse and discrimination, and Fernandez added that there is still a lot of work behind the scenes to try and improve on their current challenges.
Vinicius has been at the forefront of putting in an effort to confront this issue in the league and Fernandez believes a lot more other individuals and players can also use their status to change the public's perspective.
“The Vinicius incident was a painful reminder that all we have been doing for the last ten years has not been enough.
“Vinicius is a big player and big players receive the biggest attacks in general, and that is why the action (taken) was not enough. That is why we started this program of La Liga vs. Racism, joining forces with all the other programs the league has been doing over the years with the clubs.
“La Liga also runs other programs through more than 700 schools; clubs also play an important role because education is an important role with their academies and grassroots programs.
“Players also have a crucial role. Players like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams are very important. They have an important responsibility and they have to inspire beyond hairstyles and money because they connect with young audiences and if we want to end this problem, we have to start with the basics.”