Koke reportedly called Cristiano Ronaldo a homophobic slur after the Madrid derby

Real Madrid beat Atlético Madrid in the last ever “Derbi Madrileño” at Estadio Vicente Calderón on Saturday. The match was intense and featured the stereotypical fiery confrontations. At one point, Cristiano Ronaldo and Koke got in each other’s faces, shouting and butting heads. The anger between the two spilled over to the dressing room after the match, where it crossed the line into bigoted abuse.

Koke reportedly went after Ronaldo by calling him a homophobic slur.

Spain is generally seen as an accepting country. A survey from 2013 showed that 88 percent of respondents said that society should accept homosexuality, the most out of all European countries. This though, is undercut by statistics that show that a homophobic attack occurs every two days in the Madrid region alone.

Homophobia is also common in Spanish football. An openly gay referee quit the sport a few months ago after being verbally abused. Jesús Tomillero, 21 years old, was attacked viciously by fans at the games and then met with death threats on social media afterwards. One particular fan was ejected from the CD Lasalle and Atlético Zabal match in which Tomillero awarded Zebal a penalty, after telling the young referee to “get off for being gay.” He managed to sneak back in after his ejection for one last attack, echoing Koke’s insult at Tomillero.

Ronaldo himself has experienced this type of abuse before as well. He was met with homophobic chants from Barcelona fans in last April’s rendition of “El Clásico” during the minute’s silence meant to honor Johan Cruyff. Francisco Ramirez, the director of The Observatorio Espanol contra la LGTBfobia (StopLGBTfobia), came out against the attacks, the unsurprising nature of them in Spain and against Ronaldo, and asked for the government to recognize homophobia as a crime similar to xenophobia and racism:

“These are nothing new in Spanish stadiums, where for years players and referees have often been insulted using homophobic terms, without there being any public or exemplary punishment. This ends up continuing the presence of homophobia in Spanish football.”

“It is incomprehensible that there is a double standard when it comes to intolerance in sport. Action is taken quickly in cases of racism or xenophobia, but the biggest intolerance at this moment in football is homophobia, and this is being ignored.”

The Iberian LGBT Network launched a campaign to combat homophobia in football in June, which includes an online petition to have it recognized as a form of discrimination that would be covered under Spanish law.

Ramirez is especially right that Ronaldo’s sexuality has been a main point of attack and gossip for fans and media alike for years. It was wildly claimed that he was in a relationship with a Moroccan kickboxer in 2015. It was insinuated that he was gay because of Rihanna’s comments about their relationship in 2013. And the English media repeatedly tried to imply that he’s gay by his choice of clothing, his friends, and the fact that he cares about how he looks. And not to mention that he’s constantly having to deal with homophobic chants like the ones at Camp Nou.

Mark Simpson of Out.com wrote about the oddity of it all back in early 2016, saying that the homophobic attacks aren’t just vicious in their nature of hate, but that they also work to try and police the behavior of men regardless of sexuality. Be less like Ronaldo who sunbathes, takes shirtless pictures, and wears flowers in his hair.

Ronaldo, to his credit, has always dismissed these attacks, citing his comfort in his sexuality. This often seems to irritate his abusers even more rather than calming the attacks.

We’ve known for a long time that homophobia exists in football. Koke’s attack on Ronaldo is another drop in the ocean. But this, along with the abuse that Ronaldo suffers at other stadiums, from fans and opponents, along with the death threats levied at Tomillero, shows that even in what is considered the most tolerant of places, the hate exists.

The fan who abused Tomillero was only fined $170 and Koke is likely to escape with a slap on the wrist punishment, if anything at all. That’s the attitude that allows these attacks. If football has any pretense of trying to be truly inclusive, it needs to make it very known, through action, that homophobia, along with racism and other bigotry, are not allowed. At all.

A derby, emotions running high, or the general tension in a footballing atmosphere are not valid excuses. There are none for hate.