Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal says he has experienced racism ‘a thousand times’

Lamine Yamal, the 19-year-old Barcelona forward, said in an interview with Movistar that he has encountered racism “a thousand times,” often from people who do not recognise their own comments or behaviour as racist. He described a range of interactions — from looks to remarks — that he regards as racist even when the people involved may be unaware. Yamal acknowledged that being called Black does not upset him because it reflects his identity, but drew a distinction between neutral descriptions and remarks intended to offend. He also said that when he is on the pitch and fans have paid to watch him, he is reluctant to allow disrespectful treatment to provoke him during a match. The player’s comments come after several widely reported incidents of racial abuse in Spanish football. Footage from October 2024 appeared to show Yamal alongside teammates Raphinha and Ansu Fati being targeted at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, and a bulletin from the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia noted that Yamal and Vinicius Jr were frequent targets of online racist abuse in the final quarter of 2025. In response to recurring episodes of discriminatory behaviour, La Liga has intensified efforts to tackle racist abuse in stadiums following a series of high-profile cases. Yamal’s observations add a personal testimony to broader concerns about how racism — both overt and subtle — affects players in Spanish football.