What’s the story?
The Spanish Supreme court has rejected a plea submitted by Real Madrid demanding compensation of six million euros over a Catalan regional broadcaster TV3’s video clip that they had released in 2013 in which they depicted Real Madrid players as hyenas and compared Pepe to Hannibal Lecter. The Court ruled that the video was “not excessive”.
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The video, released three years ago, is one of the most controversial out there. They have spliced together different video clips of Real Madrid players’ worst fouls on Barcelona’s players – especially Lionel Messi – and then showing a pack of hyenas hunting wildebeast on the plains of East Africa along with sounds of the prey animals howling in pain and anguish and the predators laughing that scary cackle of theirs.
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The video predominantly focuses on Pepe – who is also depicted as serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter – but also shows heir enigmatic captain Sergio Ramos and former players Juanito and Xabi Alonso among others.
The heart of the matter
Real Madrid had initially filed a case with a lower court in Madrid where they had ruled it was indeed slander and crossed the boundaries of that grey term “freedom of expression”. They had also ruled TV3 to pay damages of 20,000 Euros. This ruling had gone to the High Court, where the initial decision was overturned. Not a club known to give up easily, they went to the Supreme Court.
And it was here, after three long years, that the case finally came to a thudding conclusion. The court noted that despite its “provacative nature”, the video didn’t “exceed the limits” of what is allowed in “this type of sports programme”. According to the bench looking after the case, the video was a critical, sarcastic, and humourus take on the rivalry between what are arguably the fooballing world’s two biggest teams and the supposed ‘aggressiveness’ of certain Real Madrid players.
What’s Next
After the initial release of the video, and faced with massive anger from Real Madrid and the club’s fans, the presenter of the programme had apologised “if anyone had been offended by the video”.
It is unlikely that TV stations from either area will go ahead and make one of these kind videos now, and that is for the best of everyone.
Sportskeeda’s Take
While the video was in poor taste and definitely cause for offense for the Madrid fans, it seems a bit too excessive that a club of Real Madrid’s stature should get directly involved in the goings on between the two sets of fans – which we all know can cross the boundaries and enter ugly, vitriol territory at the drop of a hat.
We can just hope that the fans keep their calm, and the repective clubs theirs in the future – where hopefully we will not see more such ugly videos.
