La Liga president Javier Tebas has criticised Real Madrid trio Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe and Ibrahima Konate after they partially covered shirts supporting Ceuta before the match against Elche.
The three players wore the shirts folded over rather than displaying the message in full at the Martínez Valero, unlike the other players involved in the pre-match initiative.
Tebas has now made clear that he disagrees with their decision.
“I think it’s very wrong,” said Tebas, as per MARCA.
Tebas says Ceuta gesture was institutional
The La Liga president argued that the gesture should be viewed differently from an individual political or ideological statement because the initiative involved the clubs and the competition.
Javier Tebas has criticised the Real Madrid trio. (Photo by Barrington Coombs/Getty Images for Soccerex)
He described the squad wearing the shirts as “an institutional act, a club act” rather than “a personal act where one has to express an opinion”.
The shirts carried a message of support for the people of Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city in North Africa that has recently been at the centre of a migration-related crisis.
The initiative was proposed by Elche and accepted by Real Madrid, and Tebas maintained that the players should follow the club-led initiative when it does not concern ideological issues.
Tebas rejects political interpretation
The La Liga president also explained his view that sporting organisations have the authority to organise these types of gestures, with events approved within the competition’s framework.
Vinicius, Mbappe and Konate did not wear the Cueta shirt in full. (Picture credit: Real Madrid official website)
“The whole squad coming out wearing the shirt is a club-led initiative. Players must wear the shirt. Because coming out with the shirt folded is like not wearing it at all,” insisted Tebas.
He also rejected the suggestion that the shirts represented a political statement, saying the initiative “should not be subject to the players’ opinions” when it does not involve ideological issues.
Meanwhile, Mbappe has already explained his decision, saying he wanted to express solidarity with Ceuta while also acknowledging migrants who had lost their lives or were facing difficult conditions.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, has defended the players’ freedom to make their own choices regarding the gesture.
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