Eradicate ultras or face point deductions, LFP warn clubs

Posted Friday, December 05, 2014 by Goal.com

The head of La Liga, Javier Thebes, has warned participating teams that hooligan groups must be banned from grounds in the aftermath of Sunday's violence in Madrid

Spanish clubs have been warned by the Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) that action must be taken against ultras or point deductions will be applied.

The violence associated with ultra groups was dragged into the headlines on Sunday when groups including Atletico Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna supporters clashed in Madrid ahead of their game at the Vicente Calderon.

Dozens were injured and one man died after suffering cardiac arrest during the fighting, which has brought widespread condemnation across Spain and reignited the debate about the role of ultras in the club's football environment.

Atletico responded to the events on Sunday by banning Frente Atletico - the group who are alleged to have caused the death of a Deportivo ultra on Sunday - from the Vicente Calderon, and La Liga chief Javier Thebes says if other clubs do not follow suit then they will face sanctions.

"We will make an official list of clubs that accommodate directly or indirectly with ultras, we will penalise them economically and we can take action on the sporting front by deducting points or even relegating them," the LFP chief told COPE.

"The LFP and the Spanish football association (RFEF) will consolidate our strategy for removing ultras from stadia in Thursday's meeting.

"We are preparing a series of measures to invest human resources in ending the verbal violence and physical violence in football."

Former Deportivo La Coruna president Cesar Agustin Lendoiro was dismissed as an LFP ambassador after attending Wednesday's funeral of the football hooligan who died at the weekend, which Thebes insists was a rational response as the organisation want no positive links with ultras.

"We could not permit a representative of La Liga to be seen supporting ultras, particularly at a time like this when we're condemning violence and are fighting against it," he added.

"Don’t forget that we don’t accept holding a minute’s silence for the death and then he [Lendoiro] went to the funeral.

"I told him that if he had a relationship with the family then respects should be paid in private. It didn’t take me a second to make this decision."