There is a custom that has been in place for decades within the Anti-Violence Commission (CSD) and that is that with Sevillian clubs, you must always be exemplary. Suppose we cannot put burning words to facts which are deplorable in themselves, such as … whether a vandal throws a stick or throws lighters and water bottles, whether or not there is prior provocation. It is absolutely unjustifiable that this is happening and it is the clubs that have the obligation to expel these troublemakers from the stadiums, as well as the ultra clubs that welcome them, instead of lowering the price of their subscriptions and giving them priority for tickets for away matches, among other benefits. We all know that this happens here, but also in the rest of the Spanish clubs.
For this reason, the sanction that the CSD imposed on Sevilla for what happened at the end of the last derby is unfair, in terms of being arbitrary and disproportionate to what happened in other areas of the League. I give a recent example, during a match where Betis were playing away. It was on October 18 that, already in stoppage time, Antony scored the equalizing goal and the stands began to rain bottles full of liquid on him which, if not for the reflections, some of them would have hit the players during the celebration. The sanction imposed on the Villarreal protégé – the influence of this Levantine club on the institutions that govern national football should be studied – was a minor fine for “alteration of the order of the match”. Neither more nor less than what happened at the Sánchez-Pizjuán on November 30, when the referee strictly applied the protocol and the Nervión club closed the entire stadium for a month, in addition to a fine of 120,000 euros which, given the economic crisis of the entity, is a burden.
You don’t have to go that far to see that the same relative injury occurred at Villamarín. During Betic’s goal celebration in the Cup derby, someone threw a PVC stick which hit Jordán’s head. Regardless of the obvious theatricality of the scene, the event itself was unfortunate and had consequences: the match was suspended and the final minutes were played behind an empty goal the following day. Do you remember that this measure was applied during another match in Spain? In this Copa derby, the famous bottle hit Juande Ramos.
It is not a question of punishing, but of persecuting the heartless who enter the football fields. But in all of them, also at Atlético de Madrid, when they threw a bottle of whiskey at Palop (glass, not plastic), and the match resumed after 20 minutes with the public. Or in this famous Barcelona-Madrid of Figo’s return to Camp Nou, where all kinds of objects were thrown from the stands, including a pig’s head.
The sanction to close the stadium was never carried out. But yes there. The Sevillian clubs would therefore do well to go hand in hand with these institutions, beyond a healthy sporting rivalry. And let’s stand for that here, first and foremost, we are family.
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