On Tuesday evening, Spain played a friendly international against Egypt (0-0). During the match, the crowd showed its worst side, prompting a number of shocked reactions from the football world.
Videos show Spanish supporters chanting loudly ‘Musulmán el que bote’, which roughly translates as: ‘Anyone who doesn’t jump is a Muslim’. This has been confirmed by several players.
This was how Lamine Yamal reacted to the incident on Instagram on Wednesday. He said he was deeply shocked, particularly as he is a Muslim himself. He described the behaviour as ‘disrespectful and unacceptable’.
“Yesterday, the chant ‘whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim’ rang out in the stadium. I know it was directed at the opposition and not personally at me, but as a Muslim I still find it disrespectful and unacceptable,” his statement begins.
“I understand that not all supporters are like this, but for those who chant such things: using religion as a mockery on the pitch makes you ignorant and racist. Football is meant to be enjoyed and to encourage, not to disparage people for who they are or what they believe in,” said the FC Barcelona star.
Pedri, his teammate at Barcelona and in the national side, also spoke out about the situation after the match. “We as players are also shocked by those chants,” he said. “We do not condone any form of racist chanting. We did not expect this. We must all work together to ensure this does not happen in stadiums again.”
National team manager Luis de la Fuente could only agree and also described the behaviour as ‘unacceptable’. “We must identify those violent people and remove them from society. The further away they are, the better,” was his verdict.