Atletico Madrid have appealed the partial stadium closure imposed upon them for the crowd trouble at last month’s derby against Real Madrid.
Objects were thrown from the stands behind Thibaut Courtois’ in the second half of the match at the Metropolitano stadium, leading to the referee suspending play for 17 minutes. The game then restarted after Atletico players and head coach Diego Simeone spoke with balaclava-wearing supporters.
Last week, the Spanish FA (RFEF) fined Atletico €45,000 ($50,000; £37,000) and gave them a three-match partial stadium closure, with the lower south end of the ground — where those fans had been located — the area affected by the ban.
Atletico, though, have appealed the ban saying that “the unacceptable behaviour of a few cannot lead to such a disproportionate punishment of a large majority of fans who did not commit any offence”.
“The great victim of what happened is Atletico de Madrid and its fans and those responsible for this are those involved in the throwing of objects,” a club statement read, “who are the ones who should be punished and not the rest of the fans, who have amply demonstrated their good behaviour.”
Atletico did reiterate their “condemnation of the incidents that occurred during the match against Real Madrid”, adding that they continue to work with the authorities on the matter and have already expelled three members of the club.
As it stands, the ban would cover Atletico’s first three home games following the international break, which are against Leganes, Las Palmas and Alaves.
(Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
