#INSERT type:image caption:Valencia, led by president Amadeo Salvo, warned fans against racism. END#
Valencia have released a statement saying racism is not tolerated among their fans, after some ultras reportedly sang "Sieg Heil" during last Sunday's 3-1 win at home to Espanyol.
After Nazi chants were heard coming from Mestalla's Curva Nord during the La Liga encounter, Los Che supporters' group leaders quickly issued a statement apologising for what had taken place and saying any individuals who repeated it would be immediately expelled the ground.
The club followed that with its own official statement, saying such behaviour would not be tolerated, and pointing to a past instance when measures had been taken against any individual who wished to make "anti-democratic" statements at Mestalla.
"Valencia Football Club wishes to announce that it will expel from Mestalla any person who shows or encourages any racist, fascist, xenophobic or radical ideology," the statement read. "The club recalls that before the game against Dynamo Kiev, last February, it did not allow into the stadium fans and banners that had showed anti-democratic symbols outside."
Meanwhile, Valencia have yet to comment on widespread reports that the takeover of the club by Singapore businessman Peter Lim has hit the rocks.
The club itself claimed back in May that the long-mooted purchase had finally been completed. Players including Rodrigo, Andre Gomes, Filipe Augusto and Joao Cancelo who were "owned" by Lim's investment fund were subsequently loaned in last summer, with new coach Nuno Espiritu Santo also installed on the potential new owner's say-so.
But a final deal was never done with the club's lender, Bankia, over the repayment of its 300 million euro-plus debts, the completion of its half-finished new stadium, or the sale of its current Mestalla ground. The latest round of talks between Lim's representatives and Bankia in Madrid this week broke up without any progress.
According to El Larguero radio show, the publicly-bailed out Bankia wishes to retain some control over the club's financial affairs in future, to ensure it is finally paid most of the money the club owes. Lim wants full control without being tied into such a situation, and is unwilling to pay off or take responsibility for all of the club's debts.
As far back as last December, club president Amadeo Salvo had claimed that Lim's arrival would lead quickly and directly to the end of Valencia's financial problems.
"[Lim] made us an offer which would settle the debt of Valencia with Bankia, and he would immediately invest an important amount of millions of euros in the first team," the Valencia chief said then.
Salvo will reportedly meet Lim in Singapore this weekend to try to "unblock" the situation.