Mohammad Sıo
13 May 2026•Update: 13 May 2026
The Palestinian Football Association on Tuesday thanked Lamine Yamal for expressing solidarity with Palestine by raising the Palestinian flag during FC Barcelona’s celebrations for winning the Spanish league title.
In a post on the US social media platform X, the association shared a graphic featuring the message in Spanish: “Desde Palestina… gracias, Lamine Yamal” (“From Palestine … thank you, Lamine Yamal”).
The design showed the 18-year-old winger holding the Palestinian flag alongside the Palestinian Football Association logo.
The post came two days after Yamal appeared during Barcelona’s La Liga title celebrations waving the Palestinian flag atop the club’s open-top bus among fans.
Yamal asked a supporter to hand him the Palestinian flag before waving it during celebrations across the streets of Barcelona on Sunday after the Blaugrana defeated archrival Real Madrid 2-0 in El Clasico to secure their 29th league title.
The player also shared a photo of himself holding the Palestinian flag on Instagram, drawing praise from many followers.
Yamal, considered one of football’s brightest young talents, has previously voiced support for humanitarian causes.
While many Arab and Muslim fans praised the gesture, his appearance with the Palestinian flag triggered criticism in pro-Israeli circles, with some debating the move on social media, including calls to keep politics out of sports celebrations.
Since joining Barcelona’s first team in April 2023, Yamal has won three Spanish league titles.
No player in the club’s history has achieved that feat at such a young age, as the Spanish footballer continues to break records.
During the celebratory parade, Yamal thanked supporters who filled the streets.
“It’s unbelievable. They are always with us, on the important days and the less important ones. This is the club of our lives, and we will always be here for them. We love them,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of valuing every title the team wins.
“We have to give every trophy its true value because winning is not easy,” he said.
“We went through very difficult years, but now we are enjoying what we are living through. Today could be an ordinary working day in Barcelona, yet you still find the fans here supporting us all the time.”
The teenager also spoke about his ambition to celebrate a future UEFA Champions League title parade, saying confidently: “A Champions League parade? It will definitely happen.”
Yamal, who was born in the Catalan town of Mataro to a Moroccan father and Equatorial Guinean mother, has previously spoken out publicly against racism and Islamophobia.
In March, after being targeted with Islamophobic chants during a Spain-Egypt friendly match, he wrote on Instagram: “Using a religion as an insult in a stadium makes people ignorant and racist. Football is for enjoyment, not for disrespecting people for who they are or what they believe.”
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul
