Spanish league chief proposes heavy sanctions for clubs supporting violent fans

Spanish Football League (LFP) presidentt Javier Tebas has said that sides who do not act to expel their most violent groups of supporters could face sanctions ranging from fines to points deduction and even relegation.

The league chief commented in the wake of Sunday's incidents in which members of Atletico Madrid's violent 'Frente Atletico' faction killed a member of Deportivo la Coruna's 'Riazor Blues' in a fight involving around 200 people, reports Xinhua.

"Clubs which directly or indirectly collaborate with radical supporters' clubs will receive a sanction which will be a fine but could also be related to the league itself, such as having points taken away, or being relegated to a lower division," Tebas said Thursday.

Tebas made the declaration ahead of a meeting between the LFP, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Superior Sports Committee (CSD).

He said the meeting would not only "establish a strategy to eliminate these ultras from our stadiums, but also to deal with issues such as insults hurled from the stands".

"We are preparing a range of measures that includes investing in human resources in order to put an end to verbal violence, which is a step toward physical violence and, we think, something that we have failed to deal with up to now," Tebas added.

Spain's anti-violence committee has proposed heavy fines of over 60,000 euros (75,000 US dollars) and five year stadium bans for those involved in Sunday's fighting.