The president of UPN (Unión del Pueblo Navarro), Cristina Ibarrola, has sent formal letters to the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Rafael Louzán, to the head of Athletic Club de Bilbao, Jon Uriarte, and to the president of Navarra, María Chivite, to demand that "the use of the new kit of the Bilbao team be prevented, in which Navarra has been included within the map of 'Euskal Herria' along with an ikurriña, the flag of the Basque Autonomous Community".
In the letter addressed to the president of the RFEF, Ibarrola recalls that, according to the information disseminated by the club itself, "each of the seven stripes on the shirt symbolizes one of the seven provinces of Euskal Herria" and that "this supposed 'common identity', as they point out, 'is reflected in the map of Euskal Herria and the ikurriña that they will wear on the upper part of the back".
In the opinion of the regionalist leader, "said graphic representation does not constitute a mere ornamental or sporting element". As she explains, "the inclusion of a map of 'Euskal Herria' along with an ikurriña on the official kit of a club that participates in national professional competition incorporates a message of a political, identity, and institutionally controversial nature, by projecting a certain territorial conception that includes the Chartered Community of Navarra within a political reality alien to its legal, administrative, institutional, and political framework".
Ibarrola maintains that "this representation is especially damaging to Navarra, as it ignores or relativizes its differentiated political, legal, and institutional reality". She adds that jurisprudence "has already warned that the inclusion of Navarra within 'Euskal Herria', when presented as a territorial entity from its own and specific vision, can undermine or violate the legal-administrative and institutional reality of the Chartered Community of Navarra", and reminds the federation president that "the applicable football regulations also prevent the use of sports uniforms as a support for political messages".
In this regard, it cites Rule 4.5 of IFAB (International Football Association Board), the body that sets the Laws of the Game, concerning slogans, messages, images, and advertising, which states that "equipment must not bear any political, religious or personal slogans, messages or images" and provides that, in case of non-compliance, the player or club may be sanctioned by the competition organizer, the national federation, or FIFA.
The president of UPN also recalls that the Regulatory Rules and Competition Bases for the First and Second Divisions 2025/2026 of the RFEF govern official competitions at the state level and of a professional nature for the National League Championship of the First and Second Divisions and that, regarding attire, its article 28 requires that the uniformity of the footballers must comply with the Coordination Agreement and current regulations, with official uniforms having to be communicated to the RFEF at least ten days before the first official match.
Therefore, Ibarrola asks the Royal Spanish Football Federation to "initiate the appropriate verification proceedings regarding the new first kit of Athletic Club for the 2026/2027 season; declare the incompatibility of the kit with Rule 4.5 of IFAB's Laws of the Game and, consequently, prevent the use of said kit while it maintains the denounced elements".
In parallel, she has sent another letter to the president of Athletic Club de Bilbao, in which she conveys the content of the request submitted to the RFEF and urges him to "withdraw the inclusion of the map of 'Euskal Herria' and the ikurriña in the new official first kit for the 2026-2027 season as it constitutes a controversial political message that seriously affects the legal, administrative, political, and institutional reality of the Chartered Community of Navarre, incompatible with Rule 4.5 of IFAB's Laws of the Game". In the same document, she warns that if the club does not comply with this request, UPN will take the matter to court.
Lastly, Ibarrola has addressed a third communication to the president of Navarra, in which she demands that "initiate all actions that legally correspond, so that an entity like Athletic Club, with national and international projection, respects the political, administrative, legal, and institutional reality of the Foral Community of Navarra". The leader of UPN concludes her letter stating: "I require immediate action from you for it constitutes a serious offense to the majority of Navarrese society".