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La Liga authorities have asked for Espanyol fans to be punished for racist and anti-gay chanting during Barcelona's 2-0 derby win at Cornella-El Prat on Saturday. No official away fans are able to attend the Catalan derby fixtures following trouble around games in past years. The LFP had sent officials to monitor the crowd at the stadium, as part of a crackdown on "anti-social behaviour," and they noted a large number of offensive chants and songs and have asked the Spanish government's anti-violence commission to punish those responsible. According to the LFP's official complaint, the chants heard included monkey noises made towards Neymar and Dani Alves, an anti-gay song directed at Gerard Pique and insults towards Jordi Alba after the Barca left-back was red-carded early in the second half. "The songs and group chants described came from followers of Real Club Deportivo Espanyol, recognisable by the different symbols they carried on flags, jerseys and banners, located in sectors 108, 109, 110 and 111 of the North Stand, among the group known as 'La Curva RCDE,'" the LFP statement said. "The songs and chants were repeated and coordinated among groups of among 300 and 600 followers." The LFP statement also made reference to a protest by the Espanyol supporters in that area of the stadium, who left seats in sectors 109 and 110 empty to communicate their disapproval of measures implemented by La Liga president Javier Tebas. Tebas has been leading a push to eliminate all forms of anti-social behaviour and break links between radical supporter groups and clubs in a crackdown which began after the death of a Deportivo La Coruna supporter during fighting with Atletico Madrid fans before a match in November. The government body, whose full name is "The State Commission Against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport," meets every Thursday and can hand out fines and stadium bans to individuals found guilty of an offence. Followers of clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Deportivo, Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Granada have previously been cited by the LFP for such offensive chanting, although no direct punishments for songs or chants have yet been imposed by the Spanish government. The clubs themselves can act unilaterally, and Real Madrid withdrew the season tickets of individuals caught on camera insulting Lionel Messi during a game against Celta Vigo in December. Barcelona fans heard calling Cristiano Ronaldo "a drunk" during a match at the Camp Nou in February appear to have escaped any punishment despite a complaint being filed. However, the government body does regularly take action when there is direct evidence of a specific law being broken in situations when individual miscreants can be easily identified. Punishments are handed out most weeks for offences such as attempting to enter the stadium carrying a knife, assaulting or insulting security staff, throwing a glass bottle inside the ground or attending games while being previously banned.
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