LALIGA EA SPORTS Marks Five Years of Fighting Racism

LALIGA EA SPORTS celebrates the fifth anniversary of its fight against racism, reaffirming its firm and sustained commitment to eradicating any form of discrimination in football and in society. Through the VS RACISM platform, both organisations are promoting this initiative for the fifth consecutive year, combining awareness, prevention and reporting by harnessing the power of football as a driver of social change.

Framed within the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March), VS RACISM has become one of the main lines of action for the competition and its clubs. Since the 2021/2022 season, the project has worked to eliminate hate both inside and outside stadiums and to promote a respectful and inclusive society. This approach has positioned LALIGA as a benchmark in reporting racist acts in football and in society. This season, the campaign will once again be implemented with the aim of generating social impact among football fans and EA SPORTS FC26 players alike.

Since the launch of the LALIGA VS platform in 2023, the organisation and the clubs of LALIGA EA SPORTS and LALIGA HYPERMOTION have driven numerous initiatives and projects over the past eight years to curb expressions of hate, combining values-based education, awareness campaigns and the reporting of any racist incident.

 

More than one thousand initiatives to transform society

Across its five editions, VS RACISM has promoted more than one thousand initiatives through creative campaigns, stadium activations and digital actions reinforcing the message of inclusion and respect. Initiatives such as Unity VS Racism, Together VS Racism and #1voiceVSRACISM have built a shared narrative that gains renewed momentum this year alongside EA SPORTS FC, aligned with the purpose of “Transforming The Game”, which aims to build the football of the future capable of generating a positive impact on society.

Throughout this journey, art has also become a vehicle for social transformation, with proposals such as Crisol de Culturas by artist SUSO33, symbolising the cultural diversity and coexistence present in football and society.

 

The fight against racism is also won in the courts

Although LALIGA does not hold sanctioning powers, since the 2015/16 season it has reported any act of racism or violence detected inside and outside stadiums to the relevant authorities. Since 2020, LALIGA has taken a further step by pursuing criminal proceedings directly in cases classified as hate crimes.

Thanks to this firm and sustained approach, LALIGA has secured final court rulings for racist acts both inside and outside stadiums, including in competitions not organised by LALIGA. These rulings relate to cases involving racist insults and gestures directed at players such as Vinicius Jr. (in several matches), Samuel Chukwueze, Carlos Akapo, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Omar El Hilali, as well as incidents during ELCLÁSICO, where racist abuse was directed at Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Ansu Fati—establishing clear legal precedent regarding the criminal consequences of such behaviour.

 

Prevention, technology and fan empowerment

LALIGA VS RACISM’s strategy is complemented by prevention and detection tools that encourage fan involvement. LALIGA provides accessible reporting channels through the LALIGA VS website and through QR codes permanently installed in stadiums, enabling supporters to report any hate-related incident easily and, if desired, anonymously.

LALIGA also tackles racism in the digital environment through hate-speech monitoring tools. Through MOOD, an artificial intelligence-based project, LALIGA has analysed social media conversations surrounding football. This work has been expanded through FARO, a tool developed in institutional collaboration to monitor hate speech beyond the sports environment.

In addition, the LALIGA FOUNDATION develops various projects that combat racism from educational, preventive, technological and collaborative perspectives, leveraging football’s visibility to promote values of respect and tolerance and establishing partnerships to maximise social impact.

This effort is complemented by the Hate Victim Support Office, which provides legal and psychological assistance to affected players.