Espanyol imposed punishments for the banners against Shakira LaLiga - Barcelona Club has banned supporters

The offensive banners insulting Colombian pop star Shakira have resulted in Espanyol imposing punishments on those supporters that were involved in the act.

Espanyol and Gerard Pique have never enjoyed a good or stable relationship with each other but that represented a new low.

The hostilities started in September 2008, in the derby at the Estadio Olimpico Montjuic.

Since then, Pique has become the player who makes Espanyol fans fume with anger.

But the hatred worsened in January 2016, when a sector of the RCDE Stadium insulted Shakira and displayed a disrespectful banner towards Pique's partner.

However, Espanyol, contrary to what the player said on Sunday, took action on the serious incident.

Their Chief Executive Officer Joan Collet has apologised and announced that the club had no record of the contents of the banner.

"We deeply regret and do not share the expressions of those fans, both in terms of chants and banners," Collet said in a recent interview.

"We didn't know they existed, we felt cheated.

"The banners did not enter the stadium, they were made inside and we read them as they were leaving."

In addition, the club banned the group and they were also fined 24,002 euros.

During this past week, Collet also asked for the crowd to remain calm, which occurred until Pique's controversial celebration.

The Competition and Anti-Violence Committee will act against the defender and want to analyse the statements he made.