Moroccan supporters in Spain took to the streets to celebrate their country’s historic win over Portugal on Saturday, 10th of December 2022. Unfortunately, they were attacked by Spanish police according to reports.
Videos that have been making the rounds online depict Spanish police in the Ceuta enclave assaulting Moroccan football fans who were celebrating the Atlas Lions’ World Cup victory against Portugal.
A criminal complaint was made against the policemen by the three ladies who were involved in the attack.
Three ladies are reportedly being attacked with truncheons by three police officers in the less than a minute-long video that has been circulating on social media.
Police in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta broke a calm #AtlasLions supporter’s arm with an unjustifiable baton strike after becoming enraged by Morocco’s victory over Portugal, according to a tweet from Morocco Intelligence.
Around one million Moroccans live in Spain, where the country’s public spaces were filled with celebrations after Morocco advanced to the FIFA World Cup semifinals, as was the case in many other European countries.
Three ladies who were among the revelers in Ceuta’s Constitution Square on Saturday night were assaulted with batons by the city’s police force, according to reports. Ceuta, which is on the border between Morocco and Spain and has an estimated 85,000 residents, is home to about 43 percent of Muslims.
While some riots and violence have taken place amid the Moroccan supporters’ celebrations, most of the events have been calm.
According to reports, fans erected human barricades to stop the violence from erupting as the Atlas Lions advanced to the Semi-finals.
A sizable group of children and adults form a human chain just as the police were about to step in to guarantee that everything went smoothly and avoid trouble from happening again.
Over 20,000 fans flocked to the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday as part of the celebrations, and police there made over 100 arrests for acts of violence and destruction of public property.
Some politicians in Europe, particularly those on the right, have also exploited the celebrations as fodder for their anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Following Morocco’s victory over Spain in the final rounds, a contributor to French television station CNews claimed that animosity toward France is “the result of multicultural, multiethnic countries.”
Walid Regragui, the head coach of Morocco, denounced the unrest during a press conference at the World Cup and urged supporters to support their side civilly.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, Morocco defeated Portugal 1-0 to advance as the first African and Arab nation to ever finish in the top final four.
According to reports, both the Spanish national police and the autonomous government of Ceuta have started an investigation into the incident.
The Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) in Ceuta and the Citizens and Reputation Movement Party functioning in this city, who make up the majority of the ruling coalition government in Spain, urged that the incident be looked into and those guilty apprehended.
The Atlas Lions, who stole the show as the tournament underdog, are now hoping to overcome France in the semi-final on Wednesday 14th of December 2022 by 20:00 pm, and maybe make history by making it to the final stage.
