The chants included homophobic slurs aimed at Gerard Piqué
LaLiga are set to investigate chants which allegedly included homophobic slurs directed at Gerard Piqué during the Catalan derby between Espanyol and Barcelona last weekend.
Spanish outlet Marca claim that a weekly report issued by the league to the RFEF Competition Committee and the Anti-Violence Commission on prohibited and punishable behaviour highlighted the chants.
During the 2-2 draw the RCDE Stadium, fans of the home side were alleged to have directed homophobic chants towards defender Piqué which also included insults towards his wife, famous pop star, Shakira.
Fans were reported to have been heard singing songs such as: “Pique, you b*****d, Shakira has a d**k and you are a f****t,” at the Spanish international.
This isn’t the first time that Espanyol have faced allegations in relation to chants being directed towards Piqué, with the club previously reported to LaLiga at least four times across the course of the past six seasons.
The 35-year-old has been known to retaliate on the odd occasion. In January, 2016, Piqué took aim at Espanyol supporters and joked that they couldn’t fill their ground after Barcelona beat them in a Copa del Rey semi-final match.
“They call themselves the ‘marvellous minority,’ and they’re in such a minority that they can’t even fill their ground,” he said after a 4-1 win for Barça.
“Let’s see whether they manage to fill it for the return leg, because the other day [in the league meeting] it wasn’t full.”
Piqué was sent off in last week’s meeting along with Nico Melamed after two exchanges off the ball resulted in both players being shown a second yellow.
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