Thursday, October 24, 2024, 10:43
| Updated 6:35 p.m.
The Madrid derby on September 29 at the Metropolitano is still going on because of the radicals. Almost a month after the match that had to be temporarily suspended for throwing objects at Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, this Thursday it was learned that the National Police had arrested four people, between 24 and 26 years old, as allegedly responsible for a crime of incitement to hatred on social networks against the Madrid player Vinicius on the eve of the clash.
The Madrid derby on September 29 at the Metropolitano is still going on because of the radicals. Almost a month after the match that had to be temporarily suspended for throwing objects at Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, yesterday it was learned that the National Police has arrested four people, between 24 and 26 years old, as allegedly responsible for a crime of incitement. to the hatred on social networks against the Real Madrid player Vinicius on the eve of the clash.
According to police sources, the detainees, presumably members of the Atlético Front, encouraged fans to attend the stadium to utter humiliating and discriminatory insults with racist connotations. And they did it with a mask on to complicate their identification by the Police. The massive viralization of this campaign, with 1.7 billion views, 7,000 tweets and almost 56,000 interactions, made the issue a ‘trending topic’ days before the confrontation. A significant social alarm was raised, widely reported by national and international media.
The police investigation began on October 1. After the investigations carried out, with an exhaustive tracking and detailed analysis of the information obtained, the authors of the publications reported by LaLiga were identified. Finally, on October 14 and 15, four men were arrested as allegedly responsible for a crime of inciting hatred, and they were placed at the disposal of the judicial authority. The investigation remains open, so new arrests are not ruled out.
Along these lines, the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office has initiated criminal investigation proceedings to clarify the events that occurred in that derby, specifically, the throwing of lighters at Courtois. As a first measure, the Prosecutor’s Office has required the Provincial Information Brigade to prepare a report on what happened and, in addition, to carry out an analysis of the images showing the people who could have thrown objects onto the playing field in order to identify them. .
Anti-violence and the Prosecutor’s Office
The incidents of the derby and its consequences, such as the partial closure of the lower tier of the south end in the league match against Leganés and the proposal of the Anti-Violence Commission to close the entire Metropolitano for two weeks, have generated a strange atmosphere in the coliseum red and white The united “four legs” (players, coaching staff, leaders and fans) that Cholo Simeone always demanded in order to be successful, are cracking and remember past times.
In the Champions League match played on Wednesday night between Atlético and Lille, that area of the stadium was filled again, but the fans present there promoted a cheer strike. Some are the leaders and the violent ones and others fear them and in a certain way protect them with their silence. According to the Atlético Front, it was a protest measure to show solidarity with the Colchoneros fans in the young stands from whom the club has withdrawn tickets to be able to accompany the team on the next five trips, both in the League and in the Champions League. This causes harm to normal followers who already had flights and hotels booked.
Animation strike
During that clash that ended with an inexplicable defeat against the Gauls (1-3) that complicates Atlético’s future in Europe, there were several episodes that showed the division between the ultras and the rest of the stadium, which recriminated their actions. Questioned about this climate of division following the derby and how he experienced it in that match against Lille, Simeone showed his discomfort and the latent tension.
«How has it been lived? As everyone has seen,” responded the Argentine coach while shaking his head in rejection of the disturbing situation that is being experienced in the Metropolitan stands. After the brief answer to the last question, Cholo abruptly left the press conference. Social and sporting problems for Atlético, which yesterday announced its intention to file a formal complaint with UEFA for the surreal penalty that the Italian Marco Guida pointed out against Lille and that the VAR did not order him to review.
