Barça and PSG did not grant interviews last night at the Movistar+ microphone moved to the Parc des Princes in Paris, where the Blaugrana achieved an important victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals (2-3). The two clubs refused to do so because, as explained by Ricardo Sierra, a Movistar+ journalist from the French stadium, because of “a comment” in the platform’s preview of the match. “Many viewers were hoping that we could have some protagonists. But Barça, and also UEFA and PSG, have informed us that they will not grant any interviews because they were tremendously offended and angry about a comment that had been made during the preview. We have conveyed our apologies to them and we must do it from the set because we have not been lucky,” said Sierra.
The comment he was referring to had been made by Germán Burgos, former Argentine goalkeeper for Atlético de Madrid among others and a Movistar+ collaborator, when Barça was warming up at the Parque de los Príncipes and the cameras were focused on Lamine Yamal. The young Barça player touched the ball, without it falling to the ground, at which point Burgos said: “If he doesn’t do well (in football), he ends up at a traffic light.” Immediately afterwards, laughter took over the set. And there, after realizing that no protagonist was going to appear at the Movistar+ microphone, Burgos himself took the floor to apologize: “I didn’t want to offend anyone, I apologize publicly, it wasn’t my intention.” And he added: “Sometimes you make a joke and get into trouble, in this day and age you have to adapt to everything and that’s what we’re in.”
Movistar+ issued a statement apologizing for Burgos’ “unfortunate comments.” “Due to the unfortunate comments made by one of the Movistar Plus+ collaborators in the preview of the UEFA Champions League match between PSG-FC Barcelona about the Barça player Lamine Yamal, the platform publicly apologizes,” Movistar+ stressed. The platform stressed that it “condemns any type of discrimination” and that “it will not allow this type of comments from any of the workers or collaborators linked to the platform.” “After what happened, the platform will adopt the appropriate measures to guarantee that these events do not occur again,” he stated.
Burgos, for his part, issued a statement this Thursday: “I make this statement reiterating my apologies for my words on yesterday’s program. It was not my intention to harm Lamine Yamal, the people of Barcelona, the players, UEFA, or the Movistar Plus+ platform where I work. When making my comment I chose to make a joke about quality and praise virtues, in no case was it about any ethnicity or social class,” he indicated. “After spending so many years in football, I am excited to see the young youth players. I especially admire the amount of new talent that Barça is bringing out because I believe that quality always triumphs in the end. I am a pro-camera coach and in all the teams I have been on I have been concerned about bringing young people to train with the first team. I apologize to anyone who was offended by my comment. My intention was not to vilify Lamine Yamal, quite the opposite,” he adds. And he concludes: “Football unites everything and everyone, that is why it is the best sport since it does not discriminate based on sex, race, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation. This is what I believe! See you in football!”
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