Lionel Messi Stamp Chant Prompts Reported LFP Action After Sevilla vs. Barcelona
Chants against Barcelona forward Lionel Messi have prompted the Spanish football league to write a complaint to the Spanish FA's competition committee.
As detailed by Marca, one section of Sevilla fans—known as the Biris Norte—chanted "stamp on him, stamp on him, stamp on him" in reference to Messi after he was fouled as the 2-2 draw headed to its climax.
The LFP has issued a report, saying the problems "always occurred in the lower section of the 'Gol Norte' stand, which is where the group known as the BIRIS NORTE congregates," per Marca. However, the aforementioned article doesn't detail whether any punishment will be taken against Sevilla or the club's fans.
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It's worth noting the LFP report confirms "the rest of the fans at the stadium demonstrated excellent behaviour throughout the game," per Marca. Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC tweeted about the unsavoury incident at the time:
As with many problems in Spanish football right now, it appears only a select minority are willing to sour the atmosphere.
Messi had previously opened the scoring in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, providing Barca with a 14th-minute advantage. Sevilla fought back after Neymar had doubled the lead with a terrific free-kick. Strikes from Ever Banega and Kevin Gameiro grabbed an impressive point.
The LFP are working avidly to battle against a range of problems in Spanish football. Last year's death of a Deportivo supporter—who was killed outside Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon after "dozens of rival fans clashed," per The Guardian—has sparked the committee into action.
As noted in recent weeks, anything which can be construed as provocative has come under the LFP spotlight. Most famously, Cristiano Ronaldo's "calm down" goal celebration during Real Madrid's Clasico loss to Barcelona received attention from LFP President Javier Tebas.
"We have to be careful with provocative gestures by a player when he scores a goal or with any other provocation or conduct that could incite violence among spectators," said Tebas, as reported by Iain Rogers of Reuters (h/t Daily Mail).
Ronaldo is also said to have "touched his balls" in a provocative manner toward referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz, per Marca, and most recently pulled off a "robbery" gesture after scoring against Rayo Vallecano, reported by the same publication.
Although these aren't crowd incidents, they are examples of moments which could incite spectators to react angrily. Tebas' comments highlight how the LFP plan to monitor occurrences which may seem minute to most. It doesn't matter whether a player or the fans make the mistake.
Ronaldo is yet to see punishment for any of his gestures, so it will be interesting to see how the LFP acts if the stamp chant continues to be heard. It may be a smart call by the club to ban those involved, thus eliminating the risk of receiving a sanction.
One hopes the LFP report would have also been written if a player without Messi's stature was subjected to the chant. If the organisation is going to make a real difference, no exceptions can be taken.
