Real Madrid fans cost their team a bit of money by displaying a banner with a Nazi symbol during their Champions League semifinal match with Bayern Munich.
UEFA handed Los Blancos a punishment for the “racist incidents” requiring two sections of the Bernabeu to be closed during their first Champions League group stage match.
Sections 120 and 122, according to the Associated Press, will remain closed for their group stage home opener, and in the place of fans the club is required to put up banners that read “No To Racism.”
Spain has seen a significant increase in racist action in the past few months, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. From Dani Alves eating a banana to Levante’s Papakouly Diop doing a dance, players have tried to respond in a light-hearted manner to the insults, but they hurt all the same.
“Calling black players monkeys has to end,” Diop, a Senegalese international, said after he was taunted by Atletico away fans earlier this month.
The issue with racism has even been seen at the youth level, with a Youth League match seeing racist chants by Atletico fans during a game against Manchester City.