One in four cases of racism or xenophobia in a sports context in Portugal resulted in effective convictions, an official source for the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports told Lusa today.
Called into question by the government’s action in cases of racism, xenophobia and intolerance, in view of the legislative changes recently made in Spain, the National Guardian has reported the 79 complaints registered by the Authority for the Prevention and Control of violence in sport (APCVD) since its creation, in 2019.
“Of these 79 charges, 30 were forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service for evidence of a crime. As for the 49 administrative criminal cases carried out at the APCVD, 37 were closed, of which 19 were final convictions, with no possibility of appeal; in 12 cases it was not possible to identify the perpetrator and in the remaining five it was not possible to conclude sufficient evidence,” the government source explained.
In Spain, the Interior Ministry decided on Monday to grant more powers to the security forces, allowing them to propose to the referee not to start, interrupt or suspend the match, as well as the total or partial evacuation of sports venues, if you think racist or xenophobic demonstrations are taking place.
The Spanish government states that the purpose of the directive, which will be integrated into the law against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance, is “to respond to the growing number of incidents recorded at sporting events” and to end “impunity “. for supporters, who take advantage of mass demonstrations, to spread messages of a racist, xenophobic and homophobic nature”.
Responding to Lusa, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport recalled the priorities given to crimes related to racism, xenophobia and intolerance in the legislative package on preventing and combating violence in sport approved by the Assembly of the Republic, after its modification. raised by the government.
“Practicing or promoting acts that incite or defend discrimination and hatred against any person or group of people, namely on the basis of race and ethnicity, color, nationality, origin and territory of origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity gender is emphasized in the law, making it a separate offense and carrying a higher fine,” he recalled.
In addition to aggravating this violation, competition organizers also had to include disciplinary sanctions in their regulations related to committing acts, promoting or inciting racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sports shows, replacing the previous optional character.
Source: DN
