Spanish football in the dock over race abuse outrage

There has been widespread outrage today at the behaviour of Spanish spectators who racially abused black England players at last night's friendly football international.

The English FA confirmed today that it has sent letters of protest to both Fifa and Uefa, and the Spanish FA, complaining at the way in which Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ashley Cole and Jermaine Defoe were singled out for abuse.

The chorus of disapproval was resounding in today newspaper headlines; 'Race Taunt Fury' (The Sun); 'Black players forced to run race gauntlet in Europe' (The Times); 'Racist chants shame Spain' (The Daily Telegraph); 'Fury at Spain fans' racist chants' (The Independent).

A Government spokesperson said that the Prime Minister, who had watched last night's game, was "very disappointed" by the abuse, which consisted chiefly of monkey-chants when black players touched the ball.

The spokesperson went on to say that racism had "no part to play in sport or anywhere else".

Sports Minister Richard Caborn has indicated that he will be writing to his Spanish counterpart to convey his sense of disgust at the crowd's reaction.

Speaking after the clash at Madrid's Bernabeu stadium, which incidentally England lost 1-0, captain David Beckham said he was "surprised and shocked" by the abuse.

He said: “It’s disappointing when it happens anywhere in world football because we all know how wrong it is - and so many people are working so hard to cut it out of the game.

“I was surprised because I’ve never heard it in Spain even though I live and play here. But it happens all around the world and that’s why people are working so hard to stamp it out."

He added: “Our players are strong enough to deal with it, they are strong personalities and strong characters. They know what it takes to handle it, but of course they shouldn’t have to.”

The FA's head of media, Adrian Bevington, said the volume and nature of the taunts was a phenomenon not seen in England "for the best part of 20 years".

"You struggle to find words to explain the kind of behaviour we have seen inside this stadium. It's completely unacceptable," he said.

"Football as a whole should stand up and express its disgust at what has gone on here. Quite frankly, it's a disgrace."

(gmcg/sp)