SPANISH football star Lamine Yamal has hit back at Spain’s former prime minister over ‘racist’ remarks about the French national team.
Writing in a football column, Partido Popular (PP) former leader Mariano Rajoy said the French squad was ‘extremely high level’ but had ‘no French players.’
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s France-Spain World Cup semi-final clash, Yamal responded that football was ‘all about integration’ and that there was ‘no space for this kind of thinking.’
“Tomorrow we’ll play a brilliant match, but if football serves any purpose, it is to bring people together,” the Catalan superstar said.
“France and Spain are examples of integration. That’s what football is all about – integration.
“Not talking about what someone else has said,” he added.
The Barcelona winger, who has Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean heritage, has previously spoken out against discrimination.
He made headlines around the world in April after condemning anti-Muslim chants during a friendly match between Spain and Egypt.
Rajoy’s column has drawn widespread criticism from across the political spectrum, with France’s presidential office describing the remarks as ‘racist’ and ‘unacceptable.’
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez, of left-wing PSOE, also responded to Rajoy on X, saying there were ‘still people who measure belonging based on a surname, birthplace or skin colour,’
Sanchez added that ‘Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it, not to those who shame it with xenophobic statements.’
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In the current French national team squad, only three of the 26 selected players were not born in France – although all three have lived there and hold French nationality.
Rajoy has not publicly responded to the criticism or withdrawn his comments.
However, PP spokesman Borja Semper defended the former prime minister, arguing that his remarks were ‘sarcastic’ and were not intended to cause offence.
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