Real Madrid has lost an appeal against UEFA over fans’ targeting Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with homophobic chanting. The incident in question took place at a Champions League game between the two footballing giants in February 2025.

Real Madrid brought the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last September at a hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland. The club challenged the €30,000 fine they received from UEFA and the two-year probation order to close a small section of the Bernabeu stadium at one Champions League game.

At the match, some home fans could be heard chanting that Guardiola was thin, took drugs and would be seen in Madrid’s most gay-friendly neighbourhood. When the matter was brought before the court, an expert witness linked the spectators’ comments to suggesting the coach has HIV/AIDS.

Madrid’s lawyers attempted to argue that “expressions that are humorous, exaggerated or aimed at powerful institutions or public figures” should be analysed in context. However, UEFA maintained that homophobic chanting has “cast a long and deeply troubling shadow” over football.

“For decades, the sport has been marred by a culture of machismo, exclusion, prejudice, and hostility towards individuals based on their sexual orientation,” the governing body’s lawyers said.

“This persistent intolerance has impacted the personal and professional lives of countless players, coaches and fans and also led to tragic outcomes in the past.”

UEFA added that Real Madrid “should be the first fighting against (homophobic) chants, instead of hiring high profile lawyers to file an appeal with the CAS.” They also noted that the fine was just 0.03% of Madrid’s Champions League prize money of more than €100 million for that season.

In their verdict, which has now been published and is dated April 14, the court’s judges decided the chant “was of a severe discriminatory nature… to be considered as far more serious and damaging than acceptable satire and banter.”