Atlético will be sanctioned with the closure of the stand occupied by ultras

Shameful incidents caused by Atlético de Madrid ultras during the derby at the Metropolitano will cost the red-and-white club the closure of the stand occupied by their radicals. For the first time in Spanish football history, they caused a temporary suspension of a match on Sunday by throwing objects onto the pitch. The Disciplinary Code of the Spanish Football Federation (FEF) states that when incidents are classified as very serious and it is the first time in the season, the responsible club will be fined up to 90,000 euros and partially close its sports facilities for at least two matches, warning them with total closure in case of recurrence.

Atlético, which continues to allow its violent fans into its stadium and protects them, was sanctioned last season by the Competition Committee with the closure of the stand occupied by Frente for two matches due to racist insults to Nico Williams. However, this punishment was annulled by Appeal as it was an isolated incident and the club identified and sanctioned the perpetrator. This time, throwing objects at Thibaut Courtois—three lighters and a water bottle according to the referee's report, although there were many more—caused a 17-minute suspension of the derby. Although Atlético announced on Monday the permanent expulsion of the first identified aggressor, they will not avoid closing the south stand of the Metropolitano.

Ten years ago, in a measure that proved useless in trying to eradicate violence, Atlético decided to expel ultras involved in a brawl against Deportivo fans that led to Jimmy's death. They then announced they would cease any relationship with Frente Atlético, prohibiting banners or other distinctive elements of that group in their stadium (Vicente Calderón). However, dozens of Atlético radicals remain in the south stand of the Metropolitano, where on Sunday night Nazi symbols could be seen again and even some masked violent individuals—whom the club will now also ban from wearing face-covering garments. Both Diego Pablo Simeone and team captain Koke asked them to "use their heads" and stop throwing objects.

Atlético's coach, however, asked for a sanction against Real Madrid's Belgian goalkeeper after the match for "provoking," while Madrid player Koke insisted on blaming Courtois by saying "players need to be smarter." "We can't blame everyone for a few," said Koke. After Courtois reacted to Militao's goal with anger and a defiant gesture towards the stand, repeated lighter and bottle throwing began, leading to match suspension as required by protocol. Meanwhile, south stand fans shouted "Courtois, die!" at Real Madrid's goalkeeper.

The Anti-Violence Commission positively valued on Monday "the referee's (Busquets Ferrer) promptness in applying said protocol," also considering "the necessary collaboration of clubs in identifying perpetrators of these reprehensible behaviors and their involvement in violence prevention tasks in sports venues." "Analysis tasks are being carried out on available images to determine responsibilities resulting from these behaviors to propose corresponding sanctions," confirmed Anti-Violence, which nevertheless classified incidents as serious rather than very serious. Atlético assured they would apply "the internal regime provided for very serious cases to those involved," before officially announcing one perpetrator's expulsion.