Thomas Tuchel has sought to play down a racism row on the eve of England’s Nations League clash with Spain by suggesting his original comments were “twisted” and insisting he is not expecting any incidents to tarnish the game in Madrid.
The Three Lions boss said that he would “maybe take our five minutes to inform the players about the protocol” in response to questions referencing a FIFA punishment handed down to the Spanish football federation last month.
The RFEF were fined €20,000 and ordered to play their next international friendly with a partial stadium closure after supporters sang a discriminatory chant about Muslims during Spain’s match with Egypt in March.
Sunday’s game will be England’s first in Madrid since a 2004 meeting which was overshadowed by racist chanting aimed at England players.
Speaking earlier on Saturday, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente reacted abruptly to Tuchel’s comments as he told a news conference: “What I’d tell you, and you can tell Thomas [Tuchel], is that in Spain, there’s no racism.
“Just like that, crystal clear. Just like in England. There’s no racism in Spain. We aren’t racist, any of us.”
Asked about De La Fuente’s comments, Tuchel accused reporters of manufacturing a disagreement as England performed their pre-match media duties after flying to the Spanish capital.
“I was polite enough to [answer] a question from your colleagues, and you run and ask the other coach and tell him that I talk about racism in Spain,” he said.
“It’s a perfect example of how it works because I never talked about racism in Spain. I answered politely a question about what happens. “I never expect racism, and the dressing room is the most anti-racist place on earth and that’s exactly how it works.
“You create a lot of confusion for absolutely nothing. It’s a perfect example of how it should not work.”
Tuchel reiterated his position that he was not anticipating any problems. “I sent the message, but it got twisted because I said I always expect a friendly atmosphere, and I always expect now if we play away game,” he said.
“I expect emotional and of course supporting fans from Spain for their national team. That’s what I expect, but I don’t expect racism nowhere. “I’m shocked if it happens, and it should happen nowhere, and I’m the first one to stand up for these kind of values.
“Then I got asked ‘what will happen if and if and if?’ And I said, ‘If it happens, there’s a protocol in place’. That’s it. That’s it.
“But my trust is that we have a friendly atmosphere, that we have an atmosphere who is clearly in favour of the Spanish team, and that football does what it does best: bring people together and not divide people.”
UEFA has a three-step protocol to deal with discrimination inside stadiums. Referees can halt the match and request a stadium announcement before invoking step two if necessary: taking the players off the field and stopping the game for up to 10 minutes. The game can then be abandoned in a final step.
England midfielder Declan Rice said Tuchel was yet to bring up the protocols and mirrored his manager’s view that there would be no repeat of past incidents in other European countries.
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“In the past, obviously I’ve experienced that — Montenegro, Bulgaria [both in 2019] — and there was a protocol in place that we followed, we came off the pitch,” Rice said.
“We know exactly where we are as a group on that. The manager hasn’t brought that up yet. Because it has been such a short week, we were focusing on the Croatia game so it wouldn’t surprise me if he brings that up tomorrow but we know where we stand on that.
“But I’m not expecting any of that tomorrow night. It is a beautiful city, great stadium. The players we’re playing against, we have a lot of respect for. We play against them all the time so I think it is set up to be a really good evening, hopefully not a negative one.”
