Fans were asked to refrain from engaging in discriminatory behaviour during Spain’s friendly against Egypt after sections of the Spanish crowd were heard performing an anti-Muslim chant.
In the first ten minutes of Tuesday’s fixture, sections of the the home crowd at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium were seen jumping and heard chanting: “bote, bote, bote musulman el que no bote”, which translates to “jump, jump, jump, whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim”. The chant was heard again later in the first half and shortly after half time.
At half time and during the second half, a message was relayed over the stadium’s loudspeaker system asking fans not to use racist, homophobic or xenophobic chants. The announcement was met with whistles from the crowd.
A message on the stadium screen read: “We remind you the legislation to prevent violence in sport forbids and punishes the active participation in violent, xenophobic, homophobic or racist acts.”
A statement from the Spanish football federation (RFEF) read: “RFEF condemn the chants and have instructed to send messages through the speakers of the stadium condemning all types of violence on a football pitch.”
La @rfef se suma al mensaje de nuestro fútbol contra el racismo y condena cualquier acto de violencia en los estadios. pic.twitter.com/dP961KOKzc
— RFEF (@rfef) March 31, 2026
The style of chant is typically used by Spain supporters during matches, but with the nation the team is playing the subject of the chant, as opposed to a specific religion.
Egypt is a predominantly Muslim country, with around 90 per cent of the country following the religion, according to the World Religion Database.
Lamine Yamal, Spain and Barcelona’s 18-year-old talisman, is also a practicing Muslim.
The Athletic has contacted FIFA and the Egyptian Football Association for comment.
Having both qualified for the 2026 World Cup, Spain and Egypt were playing in an international friendly at La Liga side Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium, on the outskirts of Barcelona, as part of their final preparations for this summer’s tournament.
Pedri (left) was among those who spoke out against the chants after the game (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
What did players and coaches say?
Spain and Barcelona midfielder Pedri condemned the chants after the match.
“We, as players, have been shocked by the chants too,” he said. “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.”
Goalkeeper Joan Garcia added: “Any discriminatory message against anything … we are absolutely against it. I have heard the chants and the message from the FA in the speakers.”
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente gave an “absolute and total rejection against xenophobic and racist attitudes” to journalists after the match.
“It is just not tolerable,” he said. “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.”
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan said he had “not heard anything”, however, and was “focused on the game”.
“The fans were fantastic, there was an incredible atmosphere in the game,” he continued. “Spain are a great team, as well as Egypt. In the end we are all human and there is a God in which we all believe. I won’t comment on something I have not heard.”
Was any other discriminatory chanting heard?
The chant “Gibraltar is Spanish” was also heard being sung by sections of the Spain support on Tuesday.
In 2024, Spain midfielder Rodri and forward Alvaro Morata were given one-match bans by UEFA for misconduct after video footage emerged of the pair performing the chant during the team’s 2024 European Championship winners’ parade. Gibraltar had launched a complaint to UEFA, describing the chants as ““extremely provocative and insulting”.
Gibraltar became a British territory in 1713, after Anglo-Dutch forces had captured the peninsula from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession nine years previously. In 1967, its population rejected Spanish sovereignty in a referendum and in 2002 they rejected shared sovereignty between Spain and the United Kingdom.
Spain still claim sovereignty over the peninsula.
