Lamine Yamal recollects racism episode at the Santiago Bernabeu: ‘People were surprised by my reaction’ | OneFootball

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal may be one of the world’s most talented footballers and possibly even the best player on the planet.

His short journey to the top, however, has not been without struggles, and racism is one of the many evils he has had to face and fight along the way.

While the youngster has made a name for himself, and even some enemies, for the way he carries himself and makes bold statements, his colour has also seen him at the receiving end of slurs on several occasions.

Notably, he even faced it at the Santiago Bernabeu in October 2024 when he and Raphinha were called ‘fu*king black’, ‘sh*t mena’ and other insults.

Eventually, La Liga did take action against the perpetrators and identified it to be a minor who was responsible.

Yamal speaks of racism

Speaking to Movistar (h/t Mundo Deportivo) in a recent interview, the Barcelona protege was asked if he has directly been a victim of racist abuse on the field during his short career so far.

Yamal has been a victim of racism. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Without any hesitation, Yamal immediately agreed to the statement and explained how racism is far more common than people make it out to be.

“Yes, a thousand times. People are indirectly racist with you but maybe they don’t realize it,” he began.

“There are many comments, many looks, many times, that are racist and do not realize it,” he added.

Elaborating on how it feels to be at the receiving end of such slurs on a regular basis despite the stringent rules in theory, the player said,

“I, too, have been in situations where it’s not that it’s accepted because what’s wrong can’t be accepted, but it doesn’t bother you.”

Raphinha and Yamal were subjected to racist slur at the Bernabeu. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Yamal then went on to recollect an incident of racism that he suffered against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu back in 2024.

“For example, that typical video from the Bernabeu where they were calling Raphinha and me all sorts of names, and people were surprised by my reaction.”

The youngster then took a very mature stand on the situation and explained how racism is of various types and how he filters out some of the slurs from affecting him.

“At the end of the day, if that person calls me ‘black,’ it’s not going to bother me at all – I am black; I’m not any other colour.”

“It’s a different matter whether it’s right or wrong because they’re saying it in a derogatory way,” he added.

Calling out the malpractice while also distancing himself from the topic, Yamal finally said,

“It’s wrong, but what I’m not going to do—while I’m playing a game where people have paid for tickets to see me—is get angry at one person who’s disrespected me.”