The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has responded this Sunday to former president Mariano Rajoy after he wrote in an opinion column that the French national football team has "a very high level, yes, but without Frenchmen," alluding to the origin of its players. "May the best win and may racism lose," Sánchez stated.
In a message disseminated on the social network X, the head of the Executive defended that "There are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth, or skin color. Others measure it by attachment to a country and the will to contribute to it. By playing football. By caring for our elders. Or by opening businesses."
Sánchez insisted that "Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it. Not to those who shame it with xenophobic statements" and concluded his publication with an allusion to the match between Spain and France in the World Cup semifinals: "France, see you in the semifinals. May the best win and may racism lose."
Albares criticizes Rajoy's comment and defends relations with France
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has described Rajoy's words as "hurtful and dangerous" and emphasized that the French are "our friends, neighbors, and partners."
In another message on X, the head of Foreign Affairs reiterated that "Anything that covers up racism and xenophobia is despicable. It is not Spain" and added that "All French people, without distinction, are our friends, our neighbors, and our partners."
Albares also reiterated that "the PP's sabotage" will not thwart the approval of the Friendship Treaty with France, whose ratification was blocked last Thursday in the Senate by decision of the 'popular' party, which sent it back to the Constitutional Court.
Reactions from France and defense of the French team
Rajoy's column in El Debate, published after Spain's qualification for the semifinals, has also provoked responses from the French government. The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, considered these statements "absolutely unacceptable" in an interview on BFM TV, while the French Embassy in Spain stressed that "all players of the French national team are French" and that, "of the 26 players, 23 were born in France."
Nuñez also stressed that "France is a diverse country where everyone can develop" and that "there is one France, simply, which is a Republic in which everyone must be able to find their place." In his opinion, "I think we are moving away from that when it comes to things like these. We are not giving an image of hope to many young people who live in the neighborhoods and who are citizens of the republic."
The delegate minister for Gender Equality, Aurore Bergé, also spoke of "repeated racist slips" and "unbearable," while the minister for Overseas Territories, Naïma Moutchou, called on the French Football Federation to take "all possible legal actions" against the statements of the former Spanish president.