Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 27/05/2026; Author: Nina Đuranović
Lamine Yamal, one of football’s biggest stars today, expressed support for the Palestinian people by waving a Palestinian flag during celebrations of Barcelona’s Spanish league title victory.
The footballer’s actions triggered strong reactions from the Israeli side.
According to claims circulating on numerous Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23) (archived) and Instagram accounts. (1, 2, 3, 4) (archived), the president of the Israeli Football Association allegedly sent a letter to Spain’s prime minister demanding that Yamal be suspended for displaying the flag.
“The president of the Israeli Football Association sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Spain requesting the suspension of player Lamine Yamal because of the flag he raised yesterday in support of our brothers. His response today was historic:
Pedro Sanchez said:
‘Today we received a letter requesting the suspension of Lamine Yamal because of the Palestinian flag he carried during Barcelona’s celebration yesterday, and I think that is ridiculous.
You are asking me to suspend a player because he raised the Palestinian flag?!
I think FIFA should instead be contacted to ban you from playing football because of what you have been doing for more than three years.
Lamine Yamal will be honored, and from today this flag will become a symbol of celebration in the streets of Spain.’ “
Some Israeli officials did indeed criticize Yamal’s actions, but several details in the viral posts are inaccurate.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X (archived) that the footballer was: “Inciting and fueling hatred against Israel while Israeli soldiers are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas.”
Katz added:
“Anyone who supports such a message should ask themselves: do they consider it humane? Is it moral? As the Defense Minister of the State of Israel, I will not remain silent in the face of incitement against Israel and the Jewish people.
I expect a major and respected club such as @FCBarcelona to distance itself from these statements and make it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement to hatred or support for terrorism.” Katz wrote.
However, searches for relevant keywords provide no evidence that the president of the Israeli Football Association sent an official letter to the Spanish prime minister requesting Yamal’s suspension.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez did publicly defend Yamal and support his actions, but the statement circulating on social media is fabricated.
On his X account, Sanchez shared the following message:
“Those who consider waving the flag of a nation constitutes ‘incitement to hatred’ have either lost their minds or been blinded by their own shame.
Lamine merely expressed solidarity with Palestine, a feeling shared by millions of Spaniards. Yet another reason to be proud of him.”
Sanchez did not state that he had received a letter requesting Yamal’s suspension. He did not mention FIFA. Nor did he say that Yamal would receive an official honor or award.
While Sanchez did support Yamal, he did so not with the words or in the manner described in the viral posts.
For that reason, the posts are rated as disinformation.
The “Disinformation” rating is given to a media report that contains a “mix” of facts and incorrect or half-true content. In such cases, the media may not necessarily be aware of incorrect information being published alongside the true ones. Also, this rating will be given to media reports with false attributions or titles that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.
