Spain’s Lamine Yamal criticized sections of Spanish fans for anti-Muslim chants during Spain’s friendly against Egypt, saying such behavior should not be tolerated in football.The incident took place on Tuesday at the RCDE stadium, where sections of the crowd were heard chanting: “bote, bote, bote musulman el que no bote”, which translates to “jump, jump, jump, whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim”. The chant was played again later in the first half and shortly after the break.After the chant, a stadium announcement asked fans not to use racist, homophobic or xenophobic language, and the same message was displayed on the big screen. The announcement was met with boos from some sections of the crowd.Egypt is a predominantly Muslim country. Yamal, an 18-year-old Spain player, is also a practicing Muslim and has spoken about his faith before.“I’m a Muslim, thank God,” he wrote on Instagram.“Yesterday in the stadium we heard chants of ‘Whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim’. I know it was directed at the opposing team and nothing against me as a person, but as a Muslim myself it continues to be disrespectful and something we cannot tolerate.” “I understand not the entire fan base is like that, but to those who sing those chants: using religion as something to mock people in a football stadium leaves you ignorant and racist. Football is about having fun and supporting, not insulting people for who they are or what they believe.”“That’s right, thank you to the fans who came to support us. See you at the World Cup.”Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa also responded to the incident, saying that Spain is a tolerant country and not racist, despite what happened during the match.The chant, commonly used by Spain supporters at matches, was in this case directed at the opposition and referred to the country rather than a specific person.The Royal Spanish Football Federation condemned the chants after the match. Yamal’s teammates from Barcelona, Pedri and Joan Garcia, also spoke out against the incident. Spain’s Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports issued a similar message of condemnation on Wednesday.
