There has been outrage and condemnation in Spain after a five-year-old boy was forced to take off his beloved club’s shirt before attending Espanyol’s La Liga clash with Girona at the weekend.
Hosts Girona ran out comfortable 4-1 winners over Espanyol on Saturday, the side’s third league victory on the bounce, to rise to seventh in the Spanish top flight.
But a viral video filmed before kick-off, which shows a young supporter being made to take off his Espanyol jersey by security staff, has somewhat overshadowed Girona’s win.
According to the boy’s father, the child had been told he would not be able to enter the stadium unless the blue-and-white-striped kit was removed at once, amid fears of fan violence at Girona’s Estadi Montilivi.
‘The baby has had to take off his Espanyol shirt because they say he can’t go in with it. A five-year-old child,’the young supporter’s dad can be heard saying in the footage.
‘Terribly dangerous, they could all die because the baby is wearing an Espanyol shirt.
‘In my f***ing life, would you sign for Girona? Never.’
Later in the clip, the security guard apologised and indicated that he had no choice in the matter.
‘I feel very bad… I feel very bad, sir,’ he tells the boy’s enraged dad.
It appears the family were eventually granted access to the ground, with the boy pictured in a black sweatshirt and blue coat towards the end of the video.
LaSexta report that local police had declared the match ‘high risk’ and security personnel were therefore able to prevent individuals from wearing certain clothing in parts of the stadium for safety reasons.
According to the Spanish TV channel, the five-year-old was not the only supporter forced to hide their team’s colours, with another Espanyol fan forced to take off their scarf before entering the stands.
It’s claimed the fan was told, in no uncertain terms, that he was not allowed to take the scarf inside the stadium ‘even if he hid it’ and it should instead be ‘thrown away’.