Real Madrid’s claim ‘discriminatory’ gay chant was ‘satire’ dismissed by court

Spanish football team Real Madrid recently attempted to appeal a fine over their fans singing a “discriminatory” gay chant by arguing that it was “satire”, but the court wasn’t having it.

The football club was initially given the fine over a chant sung by fans during a UEFA Champions League match in February last year. It was directed at Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, formerly of Barcelona.

Translated to English, the chant went: “Guardiola, Guardiola, how thin you look, first it was the drugs, and we’ll see you in Chueca today.” The chant was reported to law enforcement by Fare, an organisation that combats inequality in football, which assessed that it was discriminatory.

Chueca is an LGBTQ+-friendly neighbourhood and nightclub hotspot in Madrid, while the reference to looking thin and doing drugs was found to be connected to HIV and AIDS.

Sports authorities found Real Madrid guilty of “discriminatory behaviour” following an investigation and slapped the club with a €30,000 fine.

Not happy with the penalty, the club then attempted to appeal the decision by taking it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest court in international sport.

Lawyers for Real Madrid said that the chant was not intended to be hateful and argued that it should be “interpreted differently” because it involves “elements of satire, provocation or criticism”, OutSports reported on 13 May.

The court dismissed the appeal, saying that the chant constituted homophobia and was “far more serious and damaging than acceptable satire and banter.”

The chant is not the only recent homophobia issue involving Real Madrid. During a Real Madrid-Benfica match in February, Real player Vinícius Júnior scored a goal and then was approached by Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni, who pulled his jersey up over his mouth as he spoke to Júnior.

Júnior reported the incident to the referee, with his teammate Kylian Mbappé later alleging that he had heard Prestianni use a racial slur multiple times. Prestianni denied the allegations, and UEFA suspended him for one match pending investigation.

A clip of the incident emerged on social media later on, in which Prestianni appears to be using a Spanish gay slur rather than a racial slur.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was asked about the confrontation at a press conference on 24 February. “It seems bad to me. Those are homophobic insults, and it’s as serious,” he said, referring to racist language.

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