Spain's Ex-PM Draws Criticism with 'Xenophobic' Remark on French Team
Pedro Sanchez called the remark xenophobic as French officials said 23 of the squad’s 26 players were born in France.
- On Sunday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faced backlash after writing in Debate that the French national football team had "no French players" ahead of the World Cup semi-final. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the remark as "xenophobic."
- French and Spanish officials condemned the comments, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez calling them "absolutely unacceptable." Transport Minister Oscar Puente dismissed Rajoy as a "post-Franco idiot" for the inflammatory rhetoric.
- Official squad statistics refute the claim: 23 of 26 players were born in France. French Socialist party leader Olivier Faure responded that France "has no skin colour or religion."
- Anti-Discrimination minister Aurore Berge denounced the "repeated racist outbursts," calling for sport to judge talent alone. Communist leader Fabien Roussel linked the comments to xenophobic attacks on star player Kylian Mbappe.
- Naima Moutchou, France's minister for overseas territories, described the rhetoric as evidence of "systematic and widespread hatred of France and what the nation is." French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo noted an "intolerable undertone of racism.
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80 Articles
Former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is under fire following remarks about the French national football team in the run-up to the World Cup semi-final...
Just over a month after the start of the World Cup on 11 June, the tournament already accounts for at least seven cases or accusations of racism involving players, referees, authorities, influencers and public figures. The most recent episode occurred on Sunday (12), when French politicians denounced an article written by the former president of the Spanish government Mariano Rajoy, claiming that the selection of France "had no French". The case…
This time the bomb was detonated by Mariano Rajoy, the former Prime Minister of Spain.
The Minister for Gender Equality and Combating Discrimination said that the selection "shows the best of ourselves: a France that wins, that dares, that plays as a team (...) A team that we love and pride ourselves".
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