The La Liga president, Javier Tebas, strongly criticized three Real Madrid players, including Kylian Mbappé, for not properly wearing the support t-shirt for the residents of Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city in North Africa struggling with an immigration crisis.
Criticism of T-shirt Wearing Style
Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, and Ibrahima Konaté displayed the commemorative t-shirt with rolled-up sleeves, while other players wore it in the usual manner. By doing so, these three players inadequately concealed the message "We are all Ceutans" that refers to the residents of this Spanish territory. Tebas told reporters, "We saw three players who decided to wear it inadequately. Wearing it halfway means not wearing it at all... This is very bad."
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Support and Discontent Over Players' Decisions
This initiative was formed at the request of a group of business leaders in the Valencia community. Tebas explained that this proposal was approved but not organized by La Liga, emphasizing that "this is not a political act of any kind." La Liga teams have not used these t-shirts in competitions that do not involve clubs from the Valencia community.
Mikael Ángel Montano, president of the Real Madrid supporters' club in Ceuta, expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of these three players not to properly wear the t-shirt. He said, "We were really excited for the players to wear the t-shirts because we need support, but when we saw that these three players had concealed the message, we were confused."
Tensions in Ceuta and Reactions
This controversy occurs against the backdrop of rising tensions in Ceuta following the mass arrival of migrants to the city. On July 30 and 31, tens of thousands of people entered the city from Morocco. Most returned to Morocco a few hours later, but several thousand remained in Ceuta. Local residents have regularly held protests while migrants sleep in shelters and on beaches. Protesters accuse the Spanish government of abandoning a city in a humanitarian crisis.
Abd Azalzouli, a winger for Real Betis who is originally Moroccan, defended the city on social media on Tuesday. He wrote in an Instagram post: "I want to make one point clear: at no point was the t-shirt with the message to the residents of Ceuta used as a political target or out of contempt for my own people, the Moroccan people." He described this action as a demonstration of social support for the city's residents, "regardless of their nationality."
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