Spanish Journalist Faces Racism Allegations Over Comments on Teen Soccer Star Lamine Yamal

Vito Quiles has announced his intention to take legal action against López who called him a racist. In a statement, the journalist explained that his controversial post on X (formerly Twitter) during a Euro 2024 qualifying match was not intended to be racist, but criticized Lamine Yamal’s goal celebration in which he mocked his Spanish teammates at Barcelona after Spain’s elimination by Morocco in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar.

Quiles also recalled that Yamal’s father also assaulted Vox activists during an event in Catalonia, reports La Razón. Several journalists have defended Quiles, assuring that he is not a racist person and emphasizing his professionalism and ethics in the exercise of his profession. Quiles, for his part, denounced a serious attack on freedom of expression, in the sense that it is the first time that a journalist has been insulted and prevented from doing his job.