Spain may lose formula one grand prix after fans racially abuse Lewis Hamilton
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] Paul Hamilos in Madrid
Tuesday February 5, 2008
The Guardian
[/FONT]
The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, is to write to
his Spanish counterpart to express his anger after the
racist taunting of the British driver Lewis Hamilton
by spectators over the weekend.
Spain has been threatened with losing both of its
formula one grand prix races because of the racial
insults and the sport's governing body, the FIA, said
yesterday that the abuse aimed at Hamilton, formula
one's first black driver, during testing at the
Barcelona circuit could result in sanctions. "We are
going to be writing to the national sporting
authorities in Spain on what happened over the weekend
and off of that report we will be deciding on what
steps will be taken," a spokesman said.
The Spanish motorsports federation yesterday issued a
stinging condemnation of fans who racially abused
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at the weekend and declared
its "absolute repulsion" at the incidents in
Barcelona.
A number of spectators aimed gestures and shouted
racist abuse at the 23-year-old at the Circuit de
Catalunya on Saturday. One group of young men wore
wigs, dark makeup and T-shirts with the words
"Hamilton's family" written on them.
The circuit said yesterday that it is considering
legal action against the spectators involved in the
racist taunts. The Spanish grand prix is scheduled to
take place at the track on April 27, and Valencia
hosts the European grand prix on August 24, though
these are both now in doubt.
Hamilton, who is unpopular in Spain following his
acrimonious rivalry with his Spanish former teammate
Fernando Alonso last year, said: "The truth is that I
feel somewhat sad. I am in love with this country, and
especially Barcelona and this circuit, one of my three
favourites."
Sutcliffe said he would write to his counterpart to
express his concern. "Racism should not be tolerated
and this is not the first time British sportsmen have
been racially abused in Spain," he said. He said he
would also ask the FIA what action it planned to take.
"I am also going to write to the Spanish sports
minister to express our ongoing concern."
Piara Powar, director of the anti-racism campaigners
Kick It Out, blamed the Spanish authorities for
failing to respond to previous incidents of racism in
sport. In November 2004 a number of leading black
England footballers were subjected to monkey chants
during a friendly with Spain. A month earlier the
Spanish team coach, Luis Aragonés, was fined, but
later cleared, after calling the French striker
Thierry Henry a "black shit".
"The Spain-England game was an absolute fudge," said
Powar. "The issue around that was the abuse of Thierry
Henry by Luis Aragonés - again, an issue that was
fudged by the international authorities. "
There has been growing concern expressed by Spanish
anti-racism groups and a number of recent attacks on
foreigners have received widespread press coverage. A
spokeswoman for Barcelona-based anti-racism group SOS
Racismo said the racist abuse of Hamilton was the
"physical manifestation of what is going on in society
in general".
[FONT="]http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,2252604,00.html[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] Paul Hamilos in Madrid
Tuesday February 5, 2008
The Guardian
[/FONT]
The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, is to write to
his Spanish counterpart to express his anger after the
racist taunting of the British driver Lewis Hamilton
by spectators over the weekend.
Spain has been threatened with losing both of its
formula one grand prix races because of the racial
insults and the sport's governing body, the FIA, said
yesterday that the abuse aimed at Hamilton, formula
one's first black driver, during testing at the
Barcelona circuit could result in sanctions. "We are
going to be writing to the national sporting
authorities in Spain on what happened over the weekend
and off of that report we will be deciding on what
steps will be taken," a spokesman said.
The Spanish motorsports federation yesterday issued a
stinging condemnation of fans who racially abused
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at the weekend and declared
its "absolute repulsion" at the incidents in
Barcelona.
A number of spectators aimed gestures and shouted
racist abuse at the 23-year-old at the Circuit de
Catalunya on Saturday. One group of young men wore
wigs, dark makeup and T-shirts with the words
"Hamilton's family" written on them.
The circuit said yesterday that it is considering
legal action against the spectators involved in the
racist taunts. The Spanish grand prix is scheduled to
take place at the track on April 27, and Valencia
hosts the European grand prix on August 24, though
these are both now in doubt.
Hamilton, who is unpopular in Spain following his
acrimonious rivalry with his Spanish former teammate
Fernando Alonso last year, said: "The truth is that I
feel somewhat sad. I am in love with this country, and
especially Barcelona and this circuit, one of my three
favourites."
Sutcliffe said he would write to his counterpart to
express his concern. "Racism should not be tolerated
and this is not the first time British sportsmen have
been racially abused in Spain," he said. He said he
would also ask the FIA what action it planned to take.
"I am also going to write to the Spanish sports
minister to express our ongoing concern."
Piara Powar, director of the anti-racism campaigners
Kick It Out, blamed the Spanish authorities for
failing to respond to previous incidents of racism in
sport. In November 2004 a number of leading black
England footballers were subjected to monkey chants
during a friendly with Spain. A month earlier the
Spanish team coach, Luis Aragonés, was fined, but
later cleared, after calling the French striker
Thierry Henry a "black shit".
"The Spain-England game was an absolute fudge," said
Powar. "The issue around that was the abuse of Thierry
Henry by Luis Aragonés - again, an issue that was
fudged by the international authorities. "
There has been growing concern expressed by Spanish
anti-racism groups and a number of recent attacks on
foreigners have received widespread press coverage. A
spokeswoman for Barcelona-based anti-racism group SOS
Racismo said the racist abuse of Hamilton was the
"physical manifestation of what is going on in society
in general".
[FONT="]http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,2252604,00.html[/FONT]
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