Clamping down on football violence

NEW measures to tackle fan violence in Spanish football could see clubs being deducted league points, the full or partial closing of stadiums, and even relegation.

Spain’s higher sports council has approved new penalties following the death of a Deportivo La Coruña fan during a clash between rival ‘ultras’ in Madrid in late November. Clubs linked to violent behaviour will have penalties imposed in order to help stamp out violence associated with the clubs. 

La Liga president Javier Tebas said that “racist, xenophobic and abusive songs” chanted by supporters in a stadium could lead to the partial closure of the stadiums.

On November 30 last year, Deportivo La Coruña supporter Francisco Javier Romero Taboada, aged 43, suffered a cardiac arrest, hypothermia and head injuries when he was thrown into a river during violent clashes with rival supporters from Atletico Madrid.