Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey game at Real Sociedad was briefly suspended Wednesday, following chants from the crowd aimed at Madrid defender Raúl Asencio.
The cup semifinal first leg at the Reale Arena was paused just before halftime, when referee José María Sánchez Martínez was notified by Madrid captain Vinícius Júnior that the players had heard chants of “Asencio, die.”
The official activated Spain’s anti-hate protocol, which states that in the first instance, a message is displayed on the stadium’s big screens and read over loudspeakers.
“No to racist, xenophobic or intolerant chants. Support the team, respecting the opponent,” the message said.
Earlier this month, a court in the Canary Islands ruled that an investigation into Asencio’s alleged role in the distribution of a sexually explicit video involving a minor will continue.
Asencio is alleged to have shared a sexual video recorded by three other former Madrid academy players of an encounter with two girls, one of whom was a minor, in June 2023.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti substituted Asencio — who was playing out of position at right-back — at halftime and replaced him with Lucas Vázquez.
“Vinícius spoke to the referee, the referee stopped the game and applied the protocol,” Ancelotti said during his postmatch news conference.
“[The referee] did the right thing. After that, I took [Asencio] off. The player had two things: He was affected by [the chants], and he had a yellow card. So I took him off.
“Nobody likes a stadium to sing ‘die’ at them,” Ancelotti added. “[Asencio] was affected in that sense. He wasn’t exactly happy. So I preferred to take him off. His emotions might have affected him.”
Centre-back Asencio made his first-team debut in November 2024, as the team suffered a defensive injury crisis.
“We condemn the insults,” Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal told Movistar. “We don’t like it. I think there are other ways of condemning what happened, or acts that may have been committed, but this isn’t the right way to do it.”
Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil added: “If that happened — because I didn’t hear it — I condemn it. We don’t like that happening in our stadium or any stadium. We condemn those chants, it can’t happen.”
The 22-year-old Asencio has become an important member of the team, starting both legs of Madrid’s Champions League playoff with Manchester City this month.
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