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Madrid’s Olympic bid chief is concerned that another racist incident in Spanish sports could affect the city’s chances of hosting the 2016 Games.
“The bid is preoccupied about something that can affect us,” Madrid 2016 bid chief Mercedes Coghen said today.
“We’re working on it, but we ask the world of (Spanish) football, its president (Angel Villar) – who carries a lot of weight – and its players to react, to work for Spain because what affects us affects everybody.”
Coghen was reacting to UEFA’s decision to order Atletico Madrid to play its next two Champions League home games at a neutral venue because of violent and racist behaviour by the club’s fans during a match against Marseille earlier this month.
It also fined the Spanish league club euro150,000 ($A294,175).
Atletico has denied all claims of racism, insisting that UEFA officials confused chants of “Kun, Kun, Kun” – in support of the club’s striker Sergio Aguero, whose nickname is “Kun” – with monkey cries.
It is the second high-profile incident to worry the bid in recent months after the men’s basketball team posed for a publicity photo where they used their fingers to apparently make their eyes look more Chinese.
That image emerged during the Beijing Games, and the photo continued to be used for publicity purposes in Spain long past the Olympics.
It’s not the first time that racism has tinged Spanish football.
England is currently refusing to play an international friendly against European champion Spain in Madrid in 2009 because its players were racially abused during a match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in 2004.
FC Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o was racially abused in a Spanish league match at Zaragoza two years ago.
Madrid is bidding against Tokyo, Chicago, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the right to host the 2016 Olympics.
A decision will be made in Copenhagen, Denmark, in November 2009.