At a glance
- Lamine Yamal has reacted to anti-Muslim chants during Spain’s friendly match against Egypt.
- Some members of the crowd sang “Whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim” at the RCDE Stadium.
- Lamine proudly began his social media post with “I’m a Muslim”, and called the act “disrespectful and intolerable”.
FC Barcelona star Lamine Yamal has reacted to racist chants heard during Spain’s 0-0 draw with Egypt on Tuesday, calling them “disrespectful and intolerable” as part of a post shared to 40 million followers on Instagram.
“Bote, bote bote, Musulmán el que no bote“, was the chant heard from a portion of Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium.
The refrain in general is often heard on the terraces of La Liga club stadiums such as the Spotify Camp Nou, and is usually pretty harmless in being aimed at rival clubs such as Real Madrid.
In this instance, though, it didn’t mean something such as “Whoever doesn’t jump is a Madridista“, and was instead aimed at Muslims.
A portion of the crowd watching La Roja’s draw bounced up and down while singing along, in scenes that have shocked world football.
Lamine Yamal couldn’t hide his feelings on the matter
“I’m a Muslim, alhamdulillah,” Lamine wrote on Instagram on Wednesday afternoon, to address the regrettable scenes.
“Yesterday in the stadium the chant of ‘Whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim’ was heard. I know that it was aimed at a rival team (i.e. Egypt) and it was not something personal against me, but as a Muslim person it is still disrespectful and intolerable.
“I understand that not all fans are like that, but to those who sing these things: using a religion as a topic mockery in a stadium makes you ignorant and racist people.
“Football is to be enjoyed and encouraged, not to disrespect people for who they are or what they believe in. That said, thanks to the people who came to cheer us on, see you at the World Cup,” the Blaugrana number 10 signed off.
Lamine Yamal has received support from his FC Barcelona teammates
Immediately after the full-time whistle, Lamine was backed by FC Barcelona and Spain teammates such as Pedri and Joan Garcia.
“We don’t agree with any racist chant, we don’t like it and we don’t support it at all. We have to help each other so that they are eradicated from football stadiums,” Pedri stated.
As an ex-Espanyol man, Garcia also had a rough time being booed by the home crowd but brushed off the frosty reception while making his Spain debut.
“The whistles? I was very focused and excited, and everything else was in the background. I’m very happy with the work done that has allowed me to get here,” said Garcia, while likewise condemning the chants.
Lamine Yamal once again shows wisdom beyond his years
As he does on the field routinely for FC Barcelona, Lamine Yamal has again shown he is wise beyond his 18 years.
Despite barely being adult age, the Ballon d’Or runner-up demonstrated an already-obvious maturity by taking a stand.
Just as fearless as when facing some of the best defenders in the world, he’ll stand up to racists and bigots even if that makes him unpopular with a section of those that “support” the Spanish national team.
