Barcelona footballer Lamine Yamal waved a Palestinian flag during the club’s open-top bus parade celebrating their La Liga title win on Monday, attracting widespread attention on social media, reports Anadolu.

The 18-year-old Spanish international was seen waving the flag as the team marched through the streets of Barcelona during celebrations attended by around 750,000 people. Images of the gesture quickly went viral online and sparked reactions from supporters and public figures.

Spanish lawmaker Gabriel Rufian of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), a known supporter of Espanyol, praised the gesture on social media, writing: “Whether people like it or not. Let’s celebrate it. Good for him.”

“Thank you for this humane gesture. Sport has the power to make it visible.” that the world must not forget,” the Madrid chapter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement wrote on Instagram.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was even asked about Yamal’s open support for Palestine at a press conference on Tuesday, to which he replied that “Spain has recognized the state of Palestine.”

Yamal, who was born in the Catalan town of Mataro to a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, has previously spoken out against racism and Islamophobia.

In March, after being targeted with Islamophobic chants during a Spain-Egypt friendly, he wrote on Instagram: “Using a religion as an insult in a stadium makes people ignorant and racist. Football is for fun, not to disrespect people for who they are or what they believe.”

Barcelona forward, Robert Lewandowski was also seen waving a Catalan independence flag, known as the Estelada, during the parade.

We use cookies to improve the experience and display ads (Google AdSense).
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the use of cookies according to
Privacy Policy
and
Cookies Policy.
You can reject non-necessary cookies by clicking “Reject”.

Source: prizrenpost