Arsenal, Valencia Investigating Footage of Nazi Salutes During UEL Semi-Final
Arsenal and Valencia are looking into footage of away fans making Nazi salutes and other racist gestures to home supporters during the UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
The Gunners won the match 3-1 thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Footage emerged afterward on social media channels, including Twitter, of fans in the away end making the gestures toward the Arsenal section:
Arsenal confirmed (h/t Matt Maltby of the Daily Mirror) the club's co-operation with Valencia to work toward identifying those responsible: "We are working with Valencia on this. We utterly condemn such behaviour. It has no place in society or football. We continue to encourage fans to report incidents and to provide witness statements so effective action can be taken."
Valencia's response involved releasing a statement on the club's official website detailing "utter disgust and absolute intolerance" toward the behaviour. Los Che also said legal action is being readied against those involved.
Significantly, Valencia did outline the intention to find out if the fans involved in the racial abuse were provoked before making the gestures: "VCF is also working to obtain more information about any possible provocations leading up to the verbal and gesticular exchange between the home and away stands."
The latter part of the statement has left some unimpressed:
Some discipline was meted out during the match, with Maltby noting how six away supporters were ejected, although the reasons why are unknown. Maltby reported it's not known whether those in the footage were among the travelling fans removed from Arsenal's north London home.
Ending outbursts of racial abuse has become an increasing challenge for football's governing bodies this season. This latest incident only adds to the problem.
Last month, Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian relayed information from Kick It Out, the group responsible for promoting anti-discrimination within the sport. The information was compiled back in November, and revealed complaints about racial and homophobic abuse had increased, offering a reminder of the work football still needs to do.
