Espanyol, which through its CEO, Mao Ye, condemned the invasion of the pitch after the conclusion of the derby and the celebration of Barcelona, has released a statement on Wednesday reiterating its condemnation, explaining that from the entity “the necessary means were mobilized for a party of these characteristics” and raising his voice against “criminalization of a 122-year-old entity”. The club regrets that these criticisms come mainly “from our land”, in reference to the “disproportionate and generalized attack on the club and the fans”.
The full statement from Espanyol is as follows:
RCD Espanyol wants to take stock of the situation experienced last Sunday at the RCDE Stadium:
- We reiterate without excuses our condemnation of the isolated events that occurred at the end of the meeting. We are collaborating, as we have always done, with the competent bodies and the security forces to clarify the responsibilities of what happened. We would like to point out that, as validated by the Mossos Security Coordination before, during and after the events, our Club planned and mobilized all the necessary means for a match of these characteristics, also complying with all the requirements of the organizers of the security competition.
- We also want to call for common sense and proportionality. In these days we have witnessed an excessive and generalized attack, especially in our land, both to our Club and to our fans. We cannot say that we are surprised because, unfortunately, we are used to suffering from the application of different prisms of analysis, depending on who is involved. However, as an institution we understand that in some cases lines of respect, presumption of innocence and widespread attacks on our fans have been crossed, which have led to situations of social harassment in multiple areas.
- RCD Espanyol has always acted to prevent and stop any act that could go against the values of the Club and the sport. As shown, and despite the fact that, unfortunately, there are several cases and episodes linked to racism in our competition in recent seasons; one of the few that we are currently aware of being prosecuted is the one that took place in our stadium, in January 2020. This is so because it was RCD Espanyol itself who helped identify the causes of that shame. Let this serve as an example of our commitment and determination: RCD Espanyol not only talks, it also acts. We hope that those who lecture and pontificate these days do the same in their field of action when it corresponds to them.
- Finally, and in the same way that we will work with all the resources at our disposal to clarify facts of which we are the first victim, RCD Espanyol will also take legal action against those who have slandered, threatened or harassed our Club and/or all our fans
Without this constituting an excuse or exemption from our condemnation and responsibility for the events that occurred, we must be just as firm in denouncing an attempt to criminalize an entity with more than 122 years of history that has an exemplary and eminently family-oriented hobby. that it is subjected to the scrutiny of a moral double standard; implacable with the humble and lax with the powerful.
We will act forcefully in clarifying the facts and we will be equally implacable in the defense of our institution and our fans.