The referee accountable for Sunday’s Madrid derby halted the sport halfway via the second half after Atletico Madrid followers threw objects onto the pitch shortly after rivals Actual Madrid took a 1-0 lead.
Eder Militao’s Sixty fourth-minute strike gave the guests the lead in a intently contested match however a couple of minutes later, Atletico Madrid followers pelted objects in direction of Actual Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. A collection of lighters had been noticed on the pitch, which Courtois proceeded to toss out of the way in which earlier than referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer suspended the match within the 69th minute.
Bulletins had been made contained in the Wanda Metropolitano warning followers to cease disrupting the match, and match messages had been additionally on show on in-stadium screens.
As gamers made their approach in direction of the tunnel, Atletico Madrid gamers and workers walked in direction of the followers, a few of whom continued to litter the sector. Jose Maria Gimenez and Koke had been seen pleading with supporters to give up the habits, as did supervisor Diego Simeone, who pointed in direction of his head as if to recommend followers ought to assume earlier than disrupting the sport.
Play resumed about 21 minutes after Busquets Ferrer paused the sport, and Atletico went on to attain an equalizer courtesy of Angel Correa’s strike within the fifth minute of stoppage time. As the sport returned, La Liga issued a press release condemning the disorderly conduct.
“Zero tolerance for any act of violence inside or outdoors our stadiums,” the league wrote in a quick remark shared on social media.
The incident was attributed to extremely group Frente Atletico, per The Athletic. 4 members of that group had been charged in December 2023 for hanging an effigy of Actual Madrid’s Vincius Junior close to the membership’s coaching floor earlier that yr, and had been deemed accountable for racist abuse confronted by Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams on the Metropolitano in April of this yr. The sport towards Athletic was additionally halted by the referee, and Koke and Gimenez had been additionally noticed telling followers to cease the racist abuse. Atletico obtained a two-match partial stadium ban for the incident.
Many anticipated there could be disruptive habits at Sunday’s Madrid derby. A bunch of Atletico followers launched a pre-game marketing campaign to put on masks within the Metropolitano Stadium to keep away from being caught breaking La Liga’s anti-discrimination coverage, per the Related Press, one thing the league requested regulation enforcement to behave upon earlier than kickoff. Injured Actual Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, in the meantime, was discouraged by his membership from attending the sport to help his teammates, per L’Equipe, and watched it from house.
Although La Liga coverage permits referees to desert video games with disruptive fan habits together with discriminatory abuse, Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak advised broadcasters in a post-match interview that it was not one thing that crossed his thoughts. He additionally condemned the fan conduct however minimized the impression gamers can have in rooting out such habits.
“It occurs on a regular basis, not simply right here …I do not defend anybody. These items usually are not proper so the referee was proper to cease the sport,” he advised ESPN. “It isn’t a pleasant picture for soccer, for certain … It’s unhappy however what we are able to do? At first, we’re on the pitch, the sector to play, to provide every thing for ourselves and we can’t management every thing. I hope sooner or later, this stuff is not going to occur once more, that we are going to simply see a pleasant picture of soccer.”
