Death Threats Force Catalan Athlete to Delete Twitter Account

Sixteen out of the eighteen players chosen to play for the Spanish Field Hockey team at the London 2012 Olympics are Catalan. Last Sunday they beat Argentina, and they are contenders to play the semifinals and maybe win some medal, as they did four years ago when they won the silver medal. Back then, the team that gave the medal to Spain was also composed mostly of Catalan players, and they are on track for another medal this year as well.

However, Spanish online media just targeted all their anti-Catalan hatred on one of the team's player, Àlex Fàbregues, who is wearing the Spanish jersey at the Olympics for the third time. A few days ago, he was interviewed by the Catalan newspaper Ara, where he spoke about how he feels regarding national matters, always in a respectful manner. The interview was entitled When I play, I never think I'm doing it for Spain. His comments would make perfect sense in a diverse, democratic state where freedom of speech is respected. “I play in the Spanish team because there's no other team I can play with, I have no other option. I feel Catalan. I do not feel the same way listening to the Spanish anthem as I do listening to the Catalan anthem (Els Segadors).”

These words caused a fierce, intolerant, anti-Catalan backlash among many Spaniards on Twitter. Hundreds of insults and death threats were being hurled around. Some examples are that of @AlexCabo1 (“Alex Fàbregas to the gas chamber!”),  @Juanmy_poli (“Death to Àlex Fábregas! Leave the Spanish team with a rope tied around your neck!”), or @AdriManri (“I pray that Àlex Fàbregas may have a slow and painful death, and that his ears blow up while listening to the Spanish anthem. Viva España.“). Some of the comments even came from other field hockey players in Spain. Because of all this, Fàbregas was forced to close down his Twitter account. As a result, since last Sunday there have been countless displays of support towards him in Catalonia. Some of the hashtags used (#AlexFabregas and #TotsSomÀlexFabregas) became trending topics all over Spain.

There are no indications that any Spanish court may be taking legal actions against the online users who are guilty of hate speech. Indeed, nobody has done anything about it in the past, not even when Barcelona player Cesc Fàbregas was the target of such speech. Neither the Spanish Olympic Committee nor the Spanish Royal Hockey Federation have done anything about it.

From the interview it can be gleaned that Catalan athletes have no other option than to play for the Spanish team when they are called in. Spanish law forces them to play for Spain if they are chosen. If they refuse, that can mean the end of their careers as professional players. According to the Spanish Sports Law, refusal to play for the Spanish Team is a serious offense which can lead to the player being suspended or expelled. On top of this, according to the disciplinary statutes of the Spanish Royal Hockey Federation, they can receive fines of at least 3,000 euros.

So, you see, people in Spain are not even free to chose whether they want to compete in sports or not. It is compulsory.

The fact that some people are being forced to participate, in combination with all the Spanish xenophobic displays against Catalans, is very far from the fraternal ideal that should have been the norm at the London 2012 Olympics.

In a recent development, Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència (SI), a Catalan pro-independence coalition, just announced that it will support Àlex Fàbregas and other Catalan athletes against this kind of hate speech crime. SI just presented at the Barcelona Hate Speech public prosecutor over two thousand hate-speech tweets directed at Catalans, and it is asking that these crimes be punished according to the law.

References:

• Esport 3, TV3 video
• Spain field hockey player recieves death threats for comments about Spain , on CBSports
• London 2012: Spain hockey star targeted by online death threats , on The Guardian
• An Olympic Champion for Catalans , on Vilaweb
•  Àlex Fàbregas, obligat a tancar el seu compte de Twitter després de rebre insults, on Ara newspaper (in Catalan) 
• Gran reacció a la xarxa a favor d'Àlex Fàbregas, on Vilaweb (in Catalan)
• Àlex Fàbregas, crucificat per no sentir-se espanyol, on Nació Digital (in Catalan) 
• L'hoquei sobre herba, un esport nacionalment tebi, on Nació Digital (in Catalan)
• Àlex Fàbregas cierra su twitter tras recibir insultos por expresar su catalanismo , on La Vanguardia (in Spanish)
• Àlex Fàbregas cierra su cuenta de twitter tras recibir amenazas de muerte, on El periódico (in Spanish) 
• Álex Fàbregas cierra su twitter tras recibir amenazas de muerte, on As (in Spanish)
• Jogador espanhol de hóquei recebe ameaças por dizer que se sente catalao , on Globo (in Portugese)
• Fabregas spleelt voor Spanje , on Sporza (in Dutch)
• Sports and catalan teams,on Help Catalonia
• Catalan National Teams, on Help Catalonia