De la Fuente denies racism problem ahead of England match in Madrid

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente rejected the suggestion that Spain has a racism problem, telling England manager Thomas Tuchel: “We’re not racists, none of us.” His remarks came before Sunday’s Nations League match in Madrid, where Tuchel said England would remind players about football’s anti-racism protocol because of past abuse at the venue.

The match is the countries’ first in Madrid since England players faced racist abuse at the Bernabéu in 2004, though England have since played in Spain three times without incident. Spain was fined over discriminatory chants about Muslims at a match in Barcelona in March. De la Fuente also praised England as a leading team, said Spain needed more control than in their 3-2 Wembley win in September, and argued that transfer prices do not necessarily reflect players’ value.