A fan of Real Madrid CF sings a song which was insulting to Chinese women during a street interview. Photo: Screenshot of an online video

The Chinese Embassy in Spain has lodged a stern protest against the anti-China remarks made by a fan of Real Madrid CF during a street interview, saying that the fan's language was vulgar and the nature of their comments was egregious. 

Recently, a video circulating online showing that when a Chinese blogger conducted post-Champions League final interviews on the streets of the UK, he encountered a fan celebrating Real Madrid's victory. Upon learning that the blogger was Chinese, the fan sang a song which was insulting to Chinese women. 

The Chinese embassy said in the post that it was shocked and angered by this action and immediately lodged a stern protest with Real Madrid Club. 

According to the embassy, Real Madrid Club expressed its opposition to the inappropriate behavior of the fan, emphasizing that the club rejects and condemns any form of racism and xenophobia.

Such action was an isolated incident by individual fan and went against the values and principles of Real Madrid. It did not represent the club or the vast majority of Real Madrid fans, the club noted. 

The embassy also noted that Real Madrid club said it values and loves its Chinese fans, cherishes the friendly relations with the great nation of China, and appreciates the support from Chinese fans. The club hopes to continue playing a positive role in fostering friendly relations between Spain and China.

The topic of this incident attracted heated discussion on Chinese X-like platform Sina Weibo, drawing 11,000 comments and 20 million of reads as of press time. 

It sparked an uproar among Chinese netizens, who urged the Real Madrid to issue a sincere apology on its official platforms. 

Some netizens pointed out the man involved in the incident is suspected to be the grandson of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz and the son of current Real Madrid official commentator Lorenzo Sanz Durán. 

The family of Lorenzo did not make any comment on such speculation. 

The Chinese blogger, which has a Weibo account called Showmi with over 1.9 million fans, posted some follow-ups of the incident including the screenshots of e-mails the blogger sent to LaLiga's Anti-Racism Office and the Real Madrid press officer.

The blogger said he also attempted to reach out to the individual involved in hopes of having a direct conversation and obtaining his response. 

He also posted an e-mail from LaLiga, which said that "we are very sorry for what you had to go through. At LaLiga we are firmly committed to the fight against hate crimes." 

LaLiga said it is aware of the compliant, and following the usual procedures in these cases, it has already proceeded to report the incident to the competent authorities. 

However, as of Tuesday morning, the blogger said in another post that it has not received any apology from the Real Madrid, nor from the fan involved in the incident. 



Global Times