Tuchel plans anti-racism briefing for England's return to Madrid

Thomas Tuchel plans to brief England's players on anti-racism procedures as the national team returns to Madrid for the first time since its players suffered racist abuse there in 2004. The Guardian reported that the England manager wants his squad to understand the protocol, while stressing that he does not expect trouble at the Metropolitano, where England face Spain in the Nations League.

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Tuchel said a similar conversation had taken place before England's match against Serbia in Belgrade in September last year. He suggested setting aside a short period to explain the procedures again, given the history of the Madrid fixture. His remarks distinguished preparation for a possible incident from any expectation that abuse would occur, and he said England would respond if necessary.

The previous meeting between the teams in Madrid took place at the Bernabéu in 2004. Spain won 1-0, but racist abuse from spectators targeted England's black players, including Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe. According to the Guardian, the Spanish football federation was subsequently fined £44,750 over the incidents.

England have played in Spain three times since that match without a repeat of those problems, the newspaper reported. The first return was in 2009, when England refused to play in Madrid and the fixture was moved to Seville. The teams then met in Alicante in 2015 before another match in Seville in 2018.

The discussion also follows a separate sanction against Spain. The Guardian reported that Spain were fined £15,000 last month and told to stage their next friendly with part of the stadium closed. That punishment followed a discriminatory chant about Muslims by supporters during a match against Egypt in Barcelona in March, rather than an incident involving England.

Tuchel condemned racism both inside stadiums and beyond football, while making clear that he expected the home crowd to support Spain strongly. His stated position was that the players should know the procedures without assuming they would need to use them. He said he did not anticipate unacceptable behaviour at the Metropolitano.