detailed verdict<\/a> has now been published to explain the appeal dismissal by three judges dated April 14. Madrid had challenged a fine of 30,000 euros ($35,000) and a two-year probation order to close a small section of its stadium at one Champions League game.<\/p>\nWhen Madrid hosted Man City in February last year, some of its fans chanted that Guardiola was thin, took drugs and would be seen in the Spanish capital’s most gay-friendly neighborhood. An expert witness at court linked this to suggesting the former Barcelona coach was \u201cinfected with HIV\/AIDS,\u201d the verdict stated.<\/p>\n
Madrid\u2019s lawyers suggested \u201cexpressions that are humorous, exaggerated or aimed at powerful institutions or public figures\u201d should be analyzed in context.<\/p>\n
Soccer’s troubled history<\/p>\n
UEFA lawyers argued to CAS homophobia has \u201ccast a long and deeply troubling shadow\u201d over soccer.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFor decades, the sport has been marred by a culture of machismo, exclusion, prejudice, and hostility towards individuals based on their sexual orientation,\u201d the European soccer body’s lawyers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis persistent intolerance has impacted the personal and professional lives of countless players, coaches and fans and also led to tragic outcomes in the past,\u201d UEFA said in the judges\u2019 38-page summary.<\/p>\n
Real Madrid vs. UEFA legal fixtures<\/p>\n
The appeal hearing was held in Lausanne, Switzerland last September while Madrid and UEFA were still in a yearslong legal dispute over the failed Super League launch. One month later, Madrid said it would seek \u201csubstantial damages\u201d from UEFA.<\/p>\n
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UEFA lawyers argued in Lausanne, the judges wrote, that Madrid \u201cshould be the first fighting against those chants, instead of hiring high profile lawyers to file an appeal with the CAS.\u201d<\/p>\n
UEFA noted the fine was just 0.03% of Madrid\u2019s Champions League prize money of more than 100 million euros ($117 million) for that season.<\/p>\n
The chant during the second half of Madrid\u2019s 3-1 win in the knockout playoffs, second leg last season was filmed in a clip later posted on social media.<\/p>\n
The video was sent to UEFA as evidence by the Fare Network, which also works with FIFA at the World Cup to monitor discrimination through chants, symbols and slogans at games in international competitions.<\/p>\n
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Real Madrid’s defense<\/p>\n
Madrid lawyers said the report by Fare experts \u201csuffers from very serious formal and substantive defects,\u201d the verdict said.<\/p>\n
When UEFA first judged the case in February 2025, Madrid submitted the chant could have been sung by Man City supporters.<\/p>\n
Madrid and UEFA resolved their separate Super League dispute three months ago while CAS judges were processing their verdict in the homophobic abuse case.<\/p>\n
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Before Madrid hosted Man City again in the Champions League in March, club officials reportedly met with fan groups to ensure Guardiola was not targeted for abuse.<\/p>\n
AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE – Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during a first leg round of 16 Champions League…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12084,82,1562,1249,1558],"class_list":{"0":"post-22726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-madrid","8":"tag-appeal-real-madrid-uefa-guardiola-homophobic-chant","9":"tag-madrid","10":"tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","11":"tag-pep-guardiola","12":"tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}