Football
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Real and Barca could be punished due to offensive chanting by supporters

The Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) has confirmed it will report five clubs -- Real Madrid, Barcelona, Deportivo La Coruna, Rayo Vallecano and Granada -- for potential punishment due to offensive chanting by their fans at last weekend's games.

The death of a Deportivo supporter, involved in fighting with Atletico Madrid fans before a La Liga match on Nov. 30, has led to a push to break links between radical supporters' groups and clubs by eliminating all forms of anti-social behaviour from the game.

LFP president Javier Tebas and government ministers Jose Ignacio Wert and Miguel Cardenal have said that insulting chants and songs constitute "symbolic violence," which can lead to physical violence, while the official aim is to rid stadiums of all racist and xenophobic expressions.

Further to this, the LFP has released a statement outlining the games at which such chants were heard, and saying reports would now be sent to the league's disciplinary system recommending that action be taken under a 2007 law against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport.

"By virtue of that provided in [the 2007 law] against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sport, and with the data collected in the matches below, the Liga de Futbol Profesional will send several reports to the Anti-Violence Commission so that they may be submitted to the Competition Committee, if deemed necessary," the statement read.

Five games were listed in the statement, along with the chants which are said to have broken the law. These include songs at Real's Estadio Santiago Bernabeu insulting Barcelona's Lionel Messi, chants at Barca's Camp Nou against local rivals Espanyol, Deportivo president Tino Fernandez being abused by his own side's fans, and homophobic slurs directed at Valencia's Alvaro Negredo.

The action being taken against clubs for not controlling their fans has taken many in La Liga by surprise, given similar chants have long gone unpunished.

Real president Florentino Perez is believed to be particularly upset as his club moved swiftly to deal with the issue by banning 17 individuals from the Bernabeu after they were caught on camera breaking club regulations during Saturday's game against Celta Vigo.

Speaking after his side's match on Sunday, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was sceptical about the chances of eliminating all offensive chanting from Spanish stadiums, saying it was very difficult to know where to draw the line between supporting one side and insulting another.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said he agreed with the idea that insults from fans were a form of violence which should not be accepted when speaking ahead of Tuesday's Champions League group game at home to Ludogorets Razgrad.

Asked about the issue at a news conference ahead of the Champions League fixture against Juventus on Tuesday, Atletico coach Diego Simeone said he was focusing on his team's important clash.

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