Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has addressed the controversy surrounding Lamine Yamal's decision to wave a Palestine flag during the club's La Liga trophy celebrations. The newly crowned Spanish champions held an open-top bus parade through Barcelona on Monday evening, and Yamal, despite missing Sunday's title-clinching win over Real Madrid due to injury, played a prominent role.
During the parade, the 18-year-old signaled to a supporter and brought the flag on board, waving it above his head in a show of support. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Flick revealed he had spoken to Yamal about the incident. 'This topic is something I don't usually like,' Flick said. 'I spoke with him and told him: If you want to do that, it's your decision, you're old enough. You are 18 years old.'
Yamal's gesture comes a month after he publicly condemned anti-Muslim chanting by Spain fans during a friendly against Egypt. At the time, he stated: 'Yesterday at the stadium, a chant was heard: Whoever doesn't jump is a Muslim. I know it was aimed at the opposing team and wasn't something personal against me, but as a Muslim, this still counts as disrespectful and unacceptable behaviour. I understand that not all fans are like that, but those who chant phrases like this: using religion for mockery in the stadium makes you ignorant and racist people. Football was created for enjoyment and cheering, not for insulting people because of who they are or what they believe in.'
In addition, Yamal appeared to take a dig at England international Jude Bellingham by posting a video on social media of himself celebrating Ferran Torres's goal in the 2-0 win over Real Madrid, with the caption: 'Talk is cheap.' Bellingham had used the same phrase after Real's Clasico victory in October. Yamal also brandished a Barcelona shirt emblazoned with the words 'Thank God I'm not Madridista.'
Flick also reflected on the celebrations, saying: 'It was very emotional to see tears in people's eyes. The first thing we have to do is make people happy. And I'm proud of that, and I've told the players because it's been a difficult season due to injuries. There have been key players who haven't been available at times, who were in and out of the squad, like Lamine, Pedri, Raphinha, Frenkie. It's incredible the season we've had and how we've improved in the last two months in attack and defense. You could see it against Real Madrid. That's why we won La Liga. We conceded the fewest goals, and nobody expected that.'
