Nov 21 2004
.
By Dan Evans In London And Gerard Couzens In Madrid THESE are the astonishing pictures that bring fresh shame to Spanish football.
Real Madrid heroes Luis Figo and Raul smile for the camera while holding a scarf and flag of evil race-hate group the Ultras Surs.
The fanatics, who share their axe emblem with the international Hammerskin white supremacist movement, are feared even among the most extreme elements of Europe's soccer hooligans.
Its rabid followers are notorious for their sieg-heiling and swastika waving.
Yet despite their known fascist links, star players at the world-famous club -
home to England superstars David Beckham and Michael Owen - have posed for
pictures and granted interviews to the group's fanzine.
These shocking pictures are set to reignite the controversy after the appalling abuse of England's black players.
A Sunday Mirror investigation has revealed how:
Madrid-born Raul, the team captain and skipper of the national side, is the darling of the Ultras Surs and accepted a plaque as an accolade from its racist members.
The group receives free tickets for Real Madrid's matches and once had its own office at the Bernabeu stadium.
Ultras leader Jose Luis Ochaita was arrested in 1998 in Germany for waving Nazi flags and banned from matches for three years for attacking a referee in Spain.
Former fascist dictator General Franco is the Ultras' ideological leader.
Our revelations come as the Spanish FA belatedly apologised to Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips over the monkey noises they endured in the match against Spain.
And they make a mockery of Spanish claims that racism has no part in their game, heaping pressure on national manager Luis Aragones to quit after he branded Arsenal star Thierry Henry a "black s**t" on live television last month.
Piara Power, director of Kick It Out, the anti-racism in football organisation, said: "We've known about the Ultras links to Real Madrid for a long time. During Wednesday's game I saw Spanish fascist flags being waved and 25 Ultras giving Nazi salutes."
The Ultras Surs' sinister agenda is demonstrated in the string of violent convictions of its second-in-command Alvaro Cardenas.
He was jailed for four years in 2003 after admitting attacking a policeman in 1999 with a butterfly knife because he mistook him for a "s****y South American".
Even Real Madrid's Brazilian legends Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo are singled out for racist chants and excluded from the Ultras Surs fanzine. White Real Madrid stars including Jose Maria Guti, Iker Casillas and Shaun Wright-Phillips's Manchester City team-mate Steve McManaman have all granted interviews to the fanzine in the last three years.
Madrid-born Raul, the team captain and skipper of the national side, is the darling of the Ultras Surs and accepted a plaque as an accolade from its racist members.
The group receives free tickets for Real Madrid's matches and once had its own office at the Bernabeu stadium.
Ultras leader Jose Luis Ochaita was arrested in 1998 in Germany for waving Nazi flags and banned from matches for three years for attacking a referee in Spain.
Former fascist dictator General Franco is the Ultras' ideological leader.
Our revelations come as the Spanish FA belatedly apologised to Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips over the monkey noises they endured in the match against Spain.
And they make a mockery of Spanish claims that racism has no part in their game, heaping pressure on national manager Luis Aragones to quit after he branded Arsenal star Thierry Henry a "black s**t" on live television last month.
Piara Power, director of Kick It Out, the anti-racism in football organisation, said: "We've known about the Ultras links to Real Madrid for a long time. During Wednesday's game I saw Spanish fascist flags being waved and 25 Ultras giving Nazi salutes."
The Ultras Surs' sinister agenda is demonstrated in the string of violent convictions of its second-in-command Alvaro Cardenas.
He was jailed for four years in 2003 after admitting attacking a policeman in 1999 with a butterfly knife because he mistook him for a "s****y South American".
Even Real Madrid's Brazilian legends Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo are singled out for racist chants and excluded from the Ultras Surs fanzine. White Real Madrid stars including Jose Maria Guti, Iker Casillas and Shaun Wright-Phillips's Manchester City team-mate Steve McManaman have all granted interviews to the fanzine in the last three years.
Until very recently the Ultras had their own office near gate 42 of the
Bernabeu in which they kept pamphlets, drums, megaphones and flags bearing
General Franco's shield and other neo-Nazi symbols.
After home matches they meet to organise "cacereias" - hunts of blacks, prostitutes, tramps, gays and supporters of other clubs. Among their favoured chants is: "Six million Jews to the gas chambers"
But despite the clear potential for damage to the reputation of the self-styled "world's greatest club" and the threat to its lucrative sponsorship deals, Real Madrid's stars have been keen to endorse the hooligans.
Ultras Surs' favourite player, Raul, was criticised for accepting a plaque from the group after a 2003 Champions League meeting with AC Milan. Attacked later by Madrid's immigration chief Tomas Vera for legitimising "a criminal, racist xenophobe", Raul's agent countered by calling for Vera to resign.
Until the election of Florentino Perez in 2000, generations of Real's presidents had courted the hooligans. In 1997 former president Ramon Mendoza said: "If I was 20 now, I would be an Ultras Surs."
And the predecessor to Perez, Lorenzo Sanz, used the racists to try to strong-arm his way to victory in 2000. The amazing insight into Real's hardcore fans was exposed in a 2003 book by Spanish journalist Antonio Salas who infíltrate them.
After home matches they meet to organise "cacereias" - hunts of blacks, prostitutes, tramps, gays and supporters of other clubs. Among their favoured chants is: "Six million Jews to the gas chambers"
But despite the clear potential for damage to the reputation of the self-styled "world's greatest club" and the threat to its lucrative sponsorship deals, Real Madrid's stars have been keen to endorse the hooligans.
Ultras Surs' favourite player, Raul, was criticised for accepting a plaque from the group after a 2003 Champions League meeting with AC Milan. Attacked later by Madrid's immigration chief Tomas Vera for legitimising "a criminal, racist xenophobe", Raul's agent countered by calling for Vera to resign.
Until the election of Florentino Perez in 2000, generations of Real's presidents had courted the hooligans. In 1997 former president Ramon Mendoza said: "If I was 20 now, I would be an Ultras Surs."
And the predecessor to Perez, Lorenzo Sanz, used the racists to try to strong-arm his way to victory in 2000. The amazing insight into Real's hardcore fans was exposed in a 2003 book by Spanish journalist Antonio Salas who infíltrate them.
The Sunday Mirror
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