The same song was being sung inside stadiums by football fans in Barcelona this week, only with different words. The song originates in Argentina, the best place on the planet to watch football when it comes to atmosphere, where the words are: "If you don’t jump/dance you’re an Englishman."
As an Englishman who has watched many football games from the stands in Argentina, it can be a shock to the system. The answer is to stand up as the whole stadium dances, ready to say that you’re an Irish tourist if anyone asks.
The Argentines sing about the English because it’s political and related to the 1982 Falklands War when Argentina invaded the islands, which they consider their own, before Britain sent a task force, fought back and reclaimed the islands. The issue still burns deeply in the Argentina psyche.
At Camp Nou on Thursday night, a sell-out 60,067 sang: "If you don’t dance then you’re a Madridista." Everybody jumped up and danced. It was done in humour; the stadium was full of happy families watching Barcelona women destroy their great rivals Madrid 6-0 in a Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg.
That they won the first leg 6-2 in Madrid may have enthused Catalans for the brilliance of their women’s side, who are looking strong despite losing some of their best players to help balance the books, but it shows how much better they are than the rest. Barcelona’s women’s team are 13 points clear of Madrid at the top of the domestic league. They have won the Spanish title in each of the previous six seasons by an average of 16 points.
But it was all fun, a huge crowd, lots of families and affordable tickets in a stadium that is still a construction site on the way to seating 105,000 roughly 18 months from now.
There was another big game in Barcelona 48 hours before: Spain’s men’s team against Egypt in the 41,000-seater home stadium of Espanyol, six kilometres to the west of Camp Nou in an area which is very different. Much more working class, this area is mostly inhabited by Spanish over Catalan speakers, people whose families likely moved to Barcelona from other parts of Spain in the 1960s or other Spanish-speaking countries from South America more recently.
Espanyol are not traditionally from this area, but land was available in the industrial ring around Barcelona when they needed a new stadium in the noughties, after selling their old home in a wealthy uptown area in the nineties.
Not that Espanyol should be the focus here. The La Liga club merely rented their superb stadium so that Spain could play a rare game in Barcelona. Normally, the Spanish national team play in other big cities including Seville, Madrid, Valencia, or even smaller cities such as Gijon, Malaga, Alicante or Granada. All places where the majority identify more with the Spanish. That’s not the case in Catalonia or the Basque Country.
Spain’s national team had played only once in Barcelona, easily the country’s second biggest city, in the previous 22 years, but the national team are still popular with a lot of people who live in Catalonia. They also feature numerous Catalan players, most drawn from Barcelona.
The Spain v Egypt game was arranged at relatively short notice. Originally scheduled to be in Qatar, it was moved because of the ongoing was in the Middle East. Tickets were not difficult to get hold of for a rescheduled friendly between two teams who had long qualified for the World Cup finals. The current Europe champions against one of the best teams from one of Africa’s strongest football nations.
When The National checked on the day of the game, tickets were available for as little as €25 each. Still, an impressive crowd of 35,895 showed up, the stadium looked full and enthusiasm was high for the country’s final friendly before the World Cup finals, a tournament they’re one of the favourites to win. Spain flags were everywhere, which you don’t always see in Catalonia.
It should have been a night of joy for this new crowd who don’t usually watch Spanish national team matches. That was clear when the Egypt national anthem was booed, but that’s not unusual in world football. Some England fans boo the national anthem of every opponent.
On Tuesday, the game was a 0-0 in which Spain dominated with 25 shots to Egypt’s four, but what happened off the pitch made the headlines. The crowd sang that familiar "If you don’t dance" ditto. They often do whatever country their opponents. It’s fair game in the tribalism of football. However, on Tuesday, words were changed to "If you don’t jump you’re a Muslim."
Thousands joined in. This wasn’t a hundred people, but thousands. It started in the first 10 minutes of the game, was heard again before half time and in the second half. On the giant screen visible to all but those stood behind it, a message appeared stating: “We remind you the legislation to prevent violence in sport forbids and punishes the active participation in violent, xenophobic, homophobic or racist acts.”
At half time and again in the second half, a message was played on the stadium’s public address system asking fans not to use racist, homophobic or xenophobic chants. It was whistled down by many in the crowd, but then many in the crowd had also booed and whistled at the chants.
Egypt is a majority Muslim country and Spain’s best player, Lamine Yamal, is a practising Muslim who was born in Spain to a Moroccan father. Spain will host the next World Cup finals along with Portugal and Morocco, the latter an overwhelmingly Muslim country.
Condemnation of the chants was vast. The front page of Wednesday’s AS newspaper had "Worldwide shame" as the headline. Yet many agreed with the chanting, at least judging by online comments. Religion and immigration are a political issue in Spain.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was clear in his view. “It is just not tolerable,” he said after the game. “I don’t fully know all the protocols in that subject. I have seen the message the FA put on the screens in the stadium. I think the vast majority of the stadium booed and whistled all the boors who sang this.
"Football is not violent. The violent people use football to have their moment. To those violent people, we need to identify them and put them apart of society. The farthest they are the better.”
Midfielder Pedri said after the game: "We, as players, have been shocked by the chants too. We don’t agree to any sort of racist chant. We did not expect it. We all have to work together to stop this from happening in stadiums.”
Bizarrely, Egypt’s manager Hossam Hassan said he heard nothing.
Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) condemned the chants, as did Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who said: “Yesterday’s episode is unacceptable and must not be repeated. We cannot allow a disrespectful minority to tarnish the reality of Spain, a tolerant country of many. The national football team and its fans, as well. My full support to the athletes who suffered it, and my applause to those who, with their respect, help us to be a better country.”
Lamine Yamal posted on his Instagram on Wednesday: “I am a Muslim, thank God,” he posted on Instagram. “Yesterday in the stadium, we heard the chant ‘Whoever does not jump is a Muslim’. I know it was directed to the opposing team and nothing towards myself as a person, but as a Muslim myself this does not stop being a lack of respect and something we can’t tolerate.
“I understand not all the fanbase is like that, but to those who sing those chants: using religion as something to mock people in a football stadium leaves you as ignorant and racist people. Football is to enjoy and support, not to offend people by who they are or what they believe in. Having said that, thanks to the fans that came to support. See you in the World Cup.”
