Racism row erupts before France vs Spain World Cup semi-final

Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleCopa Independent | The best World Cup semi-finals… ever?Former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has faced widespread criticism from French and Spanish officials for claiming France's World Cup squad "does not have any French players" in a column for El Debate. Rajoy's incendiary remarks, published ahead of the World Cup semi-final between France and Spain, were condemned as "stupidity, racism or a combination of the two" by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, stated that Rajoy’s comments carried "intolerable whiffs of racism" and raised concerns about the "deplorable climate" that gives rise to such sentiments. Spain’s ruling Socialist government also denounced the comments, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez posting on X about measuring belonging by contribution rather than surname or skin colour, and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares urging Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo to publicly disavow Rajoy's statements. This incident follows previous racially charged remarks directed at the French team during the World Cup, which led to French captain Kylian Mbappé criticising a Paraguayan senator. In fullEx-Spanish PM accused of racism after claiming France’s World Cup team ‘does not have any French players’More bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

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