Mason Greenwood chants from Osasuna fans referred for potential punishment

GETAFE, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 17: Mason Greenwood of Getafe CF warms up during the spanish league, La Liga EA Sports, football match played between Getafe CF and CA Osasuna at Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium on September 17, 2023, in Getafe, Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)
By Dermot Corrigan
Sep 22, 2023

The chants aimed at Mason Greenwood during his first game for Getafe have been referred to the Spanish football federation and government for potential punishment.

The home match against Osasuna on Sunday was Greenwood’s first appearance for his new club after he had joined on loan from Manchester United earlier this month.

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La Liga’s official match observer heard the chants of “Greenwood, die” from a section of the away support with a report from the league on Friday confirming the incident is among a list of cases which could now result in disciplinary action.

The report read: “In minute 77 of the game, about 100 visiting supporters, situated in the travelling fans section of the stand behind the north goal, sang in a coordinated way for approximately 12 seconds – ‘Greenwood die, Greenwood die, lololo, lololo, Greenwood die’, in reference to a home player, with home fans reacting with whistles with the intention of ending the song”.

The report has now been sent to the Spanish federation’s competition committee and the government’s anti-violence commission, who have the power to hand out punishments including fines or even partial stadium closures.

Getafe fans were also denounced for seven different incidents – including ‘fuck Osasuna’ chants from their ultras group.

When asked by The Athletic about the chants, Osasuna coach Jagoba Arrasate replied: “I heard lots of chants, and we have to talk about them all. The chants of ‘fuck Osasuna’ were very bad, and the chants against Greenwood were very bad too.”

The report also detailed offensive chants during Valencia vs Atletico Madrid, Barcelona vs Real Betis and Segunda Division game between Espanyol and Eldense.

Similar chants are heard regularly in Spanish stadiums with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Luis Rubiales, Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo among those targeted in the past.

Atletico Madrid were fined €602 by the federation in 2019 for ‘Griezmann die’ chants from their supporters, after the France international had left Atletico to join Barcelona.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Death chants, a home win and an apology: Mason Greenwood returns to football

(Photo: Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)

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Dermot Corrigan

Dermot joined The Athletic in 2020 and has been our main La Liga Correspondent up until now. Irish-born, he has spent more than a decade living in Madrid and writing about Spanish football for ESPN, the UK Independent and the Irish Examiner. Follow Dermot on Twitter @dermotmcorrigan