PARIS – Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) took action to boycott interviews with Spanish television stations, Movistar. This was because one of their commentators, German Burgos, made racist comments towards young star Lamine Yamal.
For your information, Barcelona just beat PSG 3-2 at the Parc des Princes Stadium on Thursday (11/4/2024) early morning WIB. This match is the first leg of the 2023-2024 Champions League quarter-finals.
However, before the match started, Yamal had to receive racist comments from Burgos. The incident started when the player who had Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean blood was featured by Movistar on preview match.
While looking highlight Yamal was shown, one of the commentators praised it. But Burgos actually responded with an unflattering statement.
“Look at the quality, look at the touch,” said one commentator.
“If football doesn’t work out, he will end up at a traffic light,” said Burgos.
The former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper’s remarks clearly lead to racism. He seemed to be teasing that if Yamal didn’t have quality, it would seem that immigrant youth would be nothing on Spanish soil.
After this statement, Burgos apologized to Yamal. The former Atletico Madrid assistant coach said he did not intend to offend anyone.
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“It was a comment that was not intended to hurt anyone. If anyone feels offended, I apologize openly. “Right now we have to adapt to everything and that’s what we experienced,” said Burgos.
However, Barcelona and PSG, who knew about this, collectively boycotted the interview with Movistar after the match. Both coaches and players from both teams declined questions from the TV station.
Presenter Movistar on duty, Ricardo Sierra, also gave an explanation to viewers regarding this matter. He said both teams agreed not to attend the interview.
“I understand that many viewers expect us to have a conversation or interview with Barca. “But both of them have told us they will not be attending our event because they are very angry about the comments made on our set,” Sierra said.
Burgos’ statement was indeed inappropriate to make. But apart from that, the competition between Barcelona and PSG in the race for semifinal tickets can be said to be quite fierce.
It will be interesting to see what results will be presented in the second leg which will take place at Barcelona’s headquarters, the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium on Wednesday 17 April 2024. Xavi Hernandez’s men only need a draw, while PSG need to win by a difference of two goals.