On March 16, the Real Sociedad ultras attacked a group of Roma fans who traveled to San Sebastián to see the Europa League match between the two teams. A recurring type of news in recent times: brawls between soccer radicals, either between opposing teams, or between different factions of the same team. Is it a growing problem in our football? El Periódico de España, from the Prensa Ibérica group, has prepared a report in three installments to assess the scope of these events.
“Indeed, there has been an upturn in incidents after the pandemic,” They affirm from the Higher Sports Council (CSD). He is one of the members of the National Commission against Violence in Sports Shows (known as the Anti-Violence Commission), the body that governs the destinations of security in Spanish football. And with figures they illustrate that, although these incidents “remain low”, there is indeed an iIncrease compared to pre-pandemic figures: “The total number of sanction proposals for the 2018-2019 season reached 1,207; and, in the 2021-2022 season, it amounted to 1,579. The 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons were affected by the holding of matches behind closed doors or with limited capacity.
The ultras return to their old ways in the Spanish stadiums. Although there is no scenario like the one that occurred at the end of the 80s and the entire decade of the 90s (with the ultra groups displaying Nazi symbols in the stands and with spaces in the stadium donated by the clubs themselves to store their banners), the number of incidents involving radicals from soccer teams has increased after the pandemic. Be it inside the fields, be it in the outskirts of the stadiums.
“We can consider a bad season when we raise some 1,200 incident reports in an entire season. In the last one, 2021/22, we were close to 1,600. The current season has not yet ended, but we believe that we will end with similar figures,” police sources explain to this newspaper. The State Security Forces are another of the legs of the Antiviolence Commissionwhere is also found LaLigathe RFEFProsecutor’s Office and the Ministry of the Interior. All of them have been contacted to prepare an x-ray of a problem that is growing in our country.
MODEL CHAMPIONSHIP
Go ahead, all the parties consulted have agreed to define Spanish football as “modelic” in terms of violence compared to other upcoming championships. “It is no longer that we are far from the levels of violence in places like Poland or Russia, it is that we are much better than other closer and more important leagues. We are a model to follow“, They say from LaLiga, which has been one of the few parts of the Commission that has opened the doors to this newspaper to do face-to-face interviews.
They insist that “constant training is carried out with security agents” and that other championships are advised from Spain on the security initiatives implemented. “We have nothing to envy in terms of technology to a large technology company,” they summarize. From the estate they have provided this data on ‘complaints for chants, field invasions and throwing objects’:
We are exemplary, but incidents are increasing. Contradictory versions. What, then, is the minute and result of the ultra-national world? Is there more violence now in Spanish football? From the Prosecutor’s Office, another of the Commission’s agents, they declare that “violence is not created, it is transformed. What has been reconsidered is the concept ‘violence’. Now xenophobic or homophobic insults are persecuted and punished. No longer there are invasions of the pitch, like in the 80s. impact of a flare in 1992”.
Following these events, the current law has been modified, which already contemplates homophobic or xenophobic insults within the catalog of sanctions. The club can be punished with the closure of the stadium and for the perpetrators there are fines of up to 60,000 euros. However, the ultra groups have not stopped working, although some have been expelled from their respective stadiums. Real Madrid y Barcelona they were the pioneers in kicking hooligans out of their stands. Celta de Vigo joined. But the respective groups have continued to operate from underground: “The Ultras On, For example, they have been out since Florentino Pérez entered, they are still active and set up their tifos before the games in Marceliano Santamaría, one of the streets of the Santiago Bernabeu,” police sources say.
The list
Antiviolencia drew up a list with the 15 radical fans that are prohibited from receiving support from clubs. There are 10 from LaLiga Santander (First Division): Crazy Boys, Casuals and Puppies (Barça), Ultras On (Madrid), athletic front (Atletico Madrid) Bukaneros (Ray), biris north (Sevilla), Young Elx (Elche), Red force (Osasuna) and Herri Norte Group (Athletic Club). In LaLiga Smartbank (Second division) we find six: the revolution (Alaves), Ligallo and Waspper (Zaragoza), Bokeron Front (Málaga), Symmachiari (Oviedo) and Ultra Boys (Sporting). And in First RFEF (The old 2ªB) they are Riazor Blues (Sports of La Coruña).
However, some of the fans that have been causing the most problems in recent times are not on this list. This is the case of what is considered the most dangerous ultra fan in Spain in recent years: that of Betis. It features two violent factions at odds with each other: Supporters Gol Sur y United Familya split with which they have had fights even inside the stadium and which is twinned with Boixos Nois.
Another of the hobbies that is registering more violent incidents in recent times is the aforementioned of the Real society. In fact, the last massive fight was carried out by them, after the match between the txuri urdin and Mourinho’s pupils. And in 2022 there was an attack by this group against the United Family in the vicinity of the Reale Arena that resulted in two arrested, four injured and numerous material damages in the area.
They are not on the ‘banned groups’ list either, because they recently reinvented themselves. They are the heirs of the historic Peña Mujika, and its new name (RSF Firm) has not yet been included in the list of the most dangerous, so they can display their symbols without problem in the Reale Arena. This practice of changing the name of the ultra group when it is highly marked is becoming popular in the Spanish stands. It is one of the keys that explain why the ultras continue in Spanish football
The keys
Despite the fight from the Anti-Violence Commission to eradicate this scourge, the groups are still active. Outside or inside the stadiums. “We know that, even if they cannot display their symbols, they continue to enter the field,” they explain from the Police. In this sense, the security forces understand that the clubs should be the ones that put more pressure on their own radicals: “The clubs have the obligation to have an Internal Regulation as established by Law 19/2007, which includes the rights and obligations of the spectators. They should use it so that the violent lose the status of subscribers. But they have to have that firm will.”
“Not being able to display their symbols, some hide them. Others, directly, change them,” say police sources. This is the case of the already mentioned ultras of the Real. but also of Breogán troops, which is the name of the radical supporters of Celta after the club banned Celtarras in Balaídos. Or Indar Gorri, who according to the Police now call themselves Sadar Alive
Another of the keys by which the ultras continue to sneak into the fields is the slowness of the judicial processes. “They are groups that are judicially prepared, they have lawyers. The Sevilla field is going to be subject to a partial closure shortly for a sanction of some facts registered in 2016. The processes are very slow, they go on forever, they go on recurring… and meanwhile, the ultras can continue entering the stadiums”.
It is also noteworthy that some of the most violent clashes between ultras take place in the lower categories, such as in First Federation matches or clashes between subsidiaries. Matches like the Deportivo de La Coruña – Celta B, Cádiz B-Xerez or CD Badajoz-Mérida They have been classified as high-risk matches. Thus, there have been serious incidents in the field of teams such as Cultural Leonesa. It is more difficult for the authorities to focus on lower division matches, which makes them ideal breeding ground for the adjustment of scores between fans.