Thursday, October 17, 2024, 11:32
| Updated 2:19 p.m.
The Appeal Committee of the Spanish Football Federation (FEF) reduced this Thursday from three to a single match the closure of the south end of the Metropolitano due to the throwing of objects at Thibaut Courtois during the derby played on September 29. Atlético will serve its punishment on Sunday, against Leganés, in the match corresponding to the tenth day of the League. The second federative court has also reduced the fine imposed by Competition, from 45,000 euros, to 3,000, by partially upholding the appeal presented by the red-and-white club, which considered the closing sanction for three matches in the stands where the teams are located to be “disproportionate.” ultras of the Atlético Front.
Two days after the Anti-Violence Commission proposed the total closure of the Metropolitano for two weeks and a fine of 65,000 euros, a sanction described by the president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, as “necessary, fair and proportional “, Appeal highlighted that the closure for a match is “adequate, adjusting to the seriousness of the infraction, and proportional.” The war between the Government and the FEF is thus transferred to the offices due to the incidents during the derby, classified as “very serious” by Anti-Violence and the Competition Committee and as “serious” by Appeal. The federal sanction is independent of that claimed by Anti-Violence.
The Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría, announced that there would be a “forceful and severe” response to public incidents in the Metropolitan. However, while the Anti-Violence proposal that would affect 70,000 fans due to the behavior of a minority will be resolved in the long term in the ordinary courts, the FEF, through Appeal, has given support to Atlético by addressing part of its allegations. This court agrees with Atlético that the infractions cannot be considered very serious, which is why the minimum sanction included in the Disciplinary Code is imposed on the club as it is the first time in the season. The Appeal also establishes the financial sanction provided for in its lower half, by estimating the mitigating circumstance “consisting of collaboration in the identification of the persons responsible for the events.”
So far, Atlético has “permanently” expelled four partners identified as perpetrators of throwing lighters, water bottles and other objects at Courtois, but its CEO, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, has charged against the lack of collaboration of the Police “to be able to act against violence.” “The sanction proposal (from Anti-Violence) speaks of six identified and twenty suspects who are being investigated about whom we do not have any information from the Police,” laments Gil Marín, who demands that the club be provided with the identity “of those 26 to be able to proceed in the same way as with the four expelled ones.
