Lamine Yamal’s Palestine flag wave revives debate over politics in football

Published connected 13/05/2026 - 17:01 GMT+2•Updated 17:17

On Monday, Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona guardant named the world’s champion young footballer, waved a Palestinian emblem during the club's celebrations of their La Liga rubric aft winning against shot nemesis Real Madrid.

The drawback taken from Barcelona's nine autobus arsenic it paraded the streets of the metropolis rapidly gained traction online. A station connected the player’s Instagram relationship featuring respective images of the footballer with the Palestinian emblem received much than six cardinal likes.

Rima Hassan, a far-left French subordinate of the European Parliament, who was arrested and held successful custody by French authorities for a station connected societal media deemed arsenic fueling antisemitism, reacted positively with a Palestinian emblem emoji.

Pep Guardiola, 1 of football’s astir salient figures and a erstwhile Barcelona subordinate and coach, besides commented: “A shot subordinate is simply a relation exemplary followed by millions, and his sentiment is influential, truthful helium should explicit it erstwhile necessary.”

Others were much critical.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick, who manages Yamal, told reporters helium did not hold with authorities utilized successful football, but suggested the subordinate is aged capable to cognize what he's doing.

“I don’t similar these things and I spoke with him. If helium wants to bash it, it’s his decision. He’s aged enough, he’s 18 years old," helium said successful comments Tuesday.

The German manager added that what Barcelona fans expect is for shot “to marque them happy, and that is the archetypal happening we person to do.”

In the media reactions were split, with immoderate suggesting that Yamal was bringing a highly delicate governmental contented to the forefront without capable context, portion others praised the young subordinate for taking a stance and utilizing his level followed by millions.

The revived statement implicit the relation of governmental look successful sport, peculiarly with the World Cup jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico little than a period away.

In 2022, FIFA prohibited respective captains astatine the Qatar World Cup from wearing armbands supporting LGBTQ+ inclusion arsenic portion of the ‘OneLove’ campaign, launched by the Royal Dutch Football Association. FIFA warned that players wearing the armband would hazard receiving a yellowish card, and the inaugural was yet not utilized during the tournament.

FIFA regulations authorities that squad instrumentality indispensable not incorporate “political, religious, oregon idiosyncratic slogans”. The tourney stadium codification besides prohibited banners, flags oregon flyers of a “political, violative and/or discriminatory nature”.

The enforcement of these rules during the Qatar tourney prompted statement implicit consistency, with immoderate arguing that antithetic types of governmental look were treated unevenly.

Yamal, who is endorsed by Adidas, Powerade, and Beats by Dr Dre, has been outspoken successful his short, but highly lucrative career, against racism and a protagonist of societal causes.

His mother, Sheila Ebana, was calved successful Equatorial Guinea and moved to Spain successful hunt of opportunities, wherever she met Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, who is of Moroccan origin. Yamal has spoken openly astir his aboriginal struggles earlier reaching the apical levels of planetary football.

Lamine Yamal was approached by Morocco’s nationalist squad but said his “heart” was with Spain and that helium ne'er doubted his determination to correspond the Spanish side. He has besides criticised those who person attacked his Muslim religion during shot matches, describing them arsenic “ignorant” and “racist.”