The incidents experienced by Fútbol Club Barcelona at the Estadio de Vallecas during matchday 3 of LaLiga have once again put the focus on an uncomfortable debate: the passivity of LaLiga in the face of episodes of insults, threats, and object throwing against footballers.
What Frenkie de Jong, Alejandro Balde, and Lamine Yamal suffered, according to images broadcast by “El día después”, goes beyond the anecdotal: it reflects a structural problem of “sports Fair Play” that, allegedly, does not receive the same attention as other priorities of the organization chaired by Javier Tebas.
LaLiga Remains Silent: A Dangerous and Outrageous Contrast
LaLiga acts with enormous speed when it comes to pursuing audiovisual piracy, scrutinizing every last euro in Financial Fair Play or questioning player registrations in the market.
However, when it comes to protecting the physical and moral integrity of footballers, the response is slow, lukewarm, or directly non-existent. Why so much firmness in economic matters and so little forcefulness in sports matters? Shouldn't “sports Fair Play” be at the top of the priorities?
The official LaLiga statement
After the serious incidents, the only official statement from LaLiga regarding what happened in Vallecas was the following:
“The National Professional Football League sends a letter of complaint each week to the Competition Committee of the RFEF and to the Anti-Violence Commission with those chants that occur in football matches that incite violence or have insulting or intolerant content.
These chants are included as prohibited and therefore punishable behaviors, both in the RFEF's Sports Disciplinary Code and in the Legislation against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport.
LALIGA, through its LALIGAVS platform, collects reports, suggestions or requests from fans who attend matches, in order to contribute to the fight against violence in stadiums.
In addition, for years, LALIGA has been requesting more powers to be able to fight against this scourge.
”
In said report, LaLiga only states that “in the 64th minute of the match, a half-full plastic bottle was thrown” which did not hit anyone. Everything else is reduced to listing the preventive measures adopted by Rayo, from posters to messages over the PA system, with no explicit reference to the insults or threats captured on television.
And not only does it ignore what happened, the statement does include and highlight that:
"It should be especially noted that the aforementioned events occurred only from the area described, with the rest of the local fans present in the stadium maintaining appropriate behavior."
2.3. RAYO VALLECANO – FC BARCELONA MATCH, CORRESPONDING TO THE THIRD MATCHDAY OF THE 2025-2026 SEASON OF LALIGA EA SPORTS, HELD ON AUGUST 31, 2025 AT THE VALLECAS STADIUM AT 9:30 PM.
According to the information provided to this National Professional Football League by the official representative of the same in the match, called the Match Director, as well as other information channels in relation to the detection of behaviors related to violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport, once the information and the appropriate graphic and audiovisual documents of the aforementioned match have been analyzed, the following facts are recorded:
- 1. In the 64th minute of the match, local fans located in the Preference stand threw a half-full plastic water bottle with a cap, which did not hit any player, referee or other person.
- It should be especially noted that the aforementioned events occurred only from the area described, with the rest of the local fans present in the stadium maintaining appropriate behavior.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
Regarding the violence prevention measures that Rayo Vallecano may have adopted, the following accredited measures should be mentioned:
§ At the entrance to the sports venue, belongings in backpacks, fanny packs, bags, etc. are checked in order to prevent the introduction of prohibited items.
§ In addition to the above, at the entrance to the sports venue, the content of banners, flags and printed material is supervised, in order to prevent the access of material with intolerant or offensive content.
§ LALIGA posters with the regulations for accessing stadiums are displayed at the entrance doors to the stadium, as well as posters edited by the Club with the conditions for accessing and remaining in the facility.
§ In the preview, a welcome message to the visiting fans is broadcast over the PA system. Additionally, also in the preview of the match, a message is broadcast over the PA system with the following content “Ladies and gentlemen. We remind all attendees at the stadium that law 19/2007 (against violence, xenophobia and intolerance in sport) requires that any type of banner, tifo or large element displayed inside the sports venue has the relevant authorization from the organizing club and the security coordination of the authority. Having to be requested in advance and complying with the legal requirements. We thank all attendees for complying with this rule in order to avoid possible sanctions or fines. Thank you for your collaboration".
§ In the access to the changing rooms from Calle Payaso Fofó, a small plaque has been placed on the exterior wall with the inscription “VALLEKAS FREE OF RACISM”.
§ At the entrances to the stadium and the changing rooms of both teams there are posters against match-fixing edited by LALIGA and the CSD with the slogan “FOOTBALL IS YOUR LIFE, DON'T PLAY WITH IT” and “DON'T FIX, IT'S A CRIME”.
§ Posters of the campaign against racism, LET'S LEAVE RACISM OUT OF THE GAME, are displayed throughout the stadium.
§ The backs of the seats in different areas of the stands contain stickers from the LALIGA VS RACISM campaign.
§ The Fondo Stand where the main local animation group is located is sectorized with high metal fences.
§ The stadium has retractable tunnels at each of the entrances to the local and visiting changing room areas (north end).
§ In the preview of the match, the police canine unit supervises the facilities.
§ The police equestrian unit controls the access of fans in the vicinity of the stadium.
§ A security cordon is available in the perimeter area of the playing field (Fondo and Main Tribune Stand) at the end of each of the playing periods, to try to prevent fans from accessing the playing field.
Likewise, a police and security guard cordon protects the access of the different protagonists to the stadium through Payaso Fofó street, and their removal after the match.
§ The National Police personnel have shears to use in situations where necessary.
SOURCE: OFFICIAL LALIGA WEBSITE
Is LaLiga's conduct acceptable on these issues?
Can this response be considered sufficient when, allegedly, Barça players were accosted with racist insults and threats, and an 18-year-old boy like Lamine Yamal was the target of objects thrown from the stands?
Don't these events deserve an unequivocal public condemnation and exemplary sanctions?
Aren't these behaviors more serious than any administrative irregularity?
LaLiga's obligation is to protect all players
LaLiga insists that it fights against violence in stadiums, but what happened in Vallecas calls its effectiveness into question. Posters against racism or PA systems with protocol messages are of little use if, in practice, footballers are not protected.
Frenkie de Jong and Balde were forced to leave to avoid problems, and Lamine Yamal, with 18 years recently completed, endured a barrage of objects accompanied by an institutional silence that is inadmissible.
The allegedly complicit silence in the face of these events erodes the credibility of a competition that is presented as a world example. If LaLiga has the capacity to control even the smallest financial detail of the clubs, how is it possible that it does not have the tools to guarantee the basic safety of the protagonists on the field?
The debate remains open: who really protects the players when they need it? Financial Fair Play can wait, but Sports Fair Play should be untouchable.
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