Spanish authorities won praise on Monday for clearing Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in just minutes after receiving a bomb threat — but Real Madrid’s president said it set a bad precedent to suspend the match.
Sunday’s threat, allegedly from Basque separatists, proved a hoax and the conclusion of the match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad was rescheduled for January 5 by the Spanish soccer federation.
”What happened is a very bad precedent,” Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez said. ”It’s scary that this sort of thing might become a trend.”
The hoax highlighted the issue of security at major sports venues such as Real Madrid’s stadium, where few fans are searched going in.
Seventy thousand people packed the stadium on Sunday evening to see David Beckham, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.
With two minutes of official time remaining, referee Lizondo Cortes halted the game. Cortes then pointed the players toward the tunnel.
Officials urged spectators to remain calm and asked them to evacuate, and the fans were out within 10 minutes. No one was injured, and the Spanish press praised the fans for exiting quickly and safely.
The threat was transmitted through the Basque newspaper Gara, which the armed separatist group ETA often uses to relay its warnings, including those of a series of small bombings in Madrid last weekend.
Despite the threat and evacuation, authorities said no extra security will be in place for a star-studded charity soccer game on Tuesday featuring international stars such as formula one’s Michael Schumacher, Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy and Dutch international Patrick Kluivert, as well as Ronaldo, Beckham and Zidane.
”The match will take place with no added security,” said Aziyade Poltier-Mutal of the United Nations Development Programme, which organised the event.
Soccer’s ruling organisations, Uefa and Fifa, downplayed the bomb threat on Monday.
Bomb threats have affected several sports events in Europe. At the Summer Olympics, Greek police received a bomb threat before the opening ceremony — but chose not to evacuate. That threat turned out to be a hoax.
In April, 10 suspects were arrested in Britain on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack at Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium. All 10 later were released without charge.
England’s Grand National in 1997, the world’s most famous steeplechase horse race, was postponed for two days because of a bomb threat by the Irish Republican Army. About 70 000 people were evacuated from the Aintree racecourse.
And in May 2002, Bernabeu was the target of an ETA bombing outside the stadium that lightly injured 17 people.
Lars-Ake Lagrell, chairperson of the Swedish Football Association, said Sunday’s evacuation of Bernabeu could inspire copycats.
”It would be naive not to realise that this may be the consequence also in sports just as it has been the consequence at the airport,” he said.
Madrid’s 2012 Olympic bid chief, Feliciano Mayoral, dismissed suggestions that the bomb scare at the Bernabeu might harm the city’s chances to host the Olympics.
”What happened could happen in any city in the world and it would be wrong to use it against Madrid,” he said. — Sapa-AP