Mono Burgos fired from Spanish television for an offensive comment about a Barcelona star

The former archer German “the Monkey” Burgos He apologized for saying it in his job as a commentator for the network Movistar Plus+ during the preparatory phase of the meeting Champions League between PSG and the Barcelonawhich a Yamal laminae “be careful, if things don’t go well you’ll end up at the traffic lights”, while a sequence of the Barça player touching the ball during the warm-up appeared on the screen; and assured that his intention “was not to defame Lamine Yamal, on the contrary”.

That unfortunate sentence that the Argentine broadcast live generated an escalation of indignation and repudiation throughout Spain, and especially in Catalonia, which expressed itself in defense of the young star of the culé club, who at just 16 years old He has already made it into the Spanish national team and promises to be part of the new generation of world football talents.

“I make this statement reiterating my apologies for my words in yesterday’s program. It was not my intention to harm Lamine Yamal, the people of Barcelona, ​​​​the players, UEFA or the Movistar Plus+ platform in which I work. In doing my comment I chose to joke about quality and praise its virtues, In no case was it about any ethnicity or social class“, explained the Monkey in a message.

“After so many years in football, I am excited to see young players. I especially admire the amount of new talent that Barça is bringing out because I believe that in the end, quality always triumphs. I am a professional coach and in all the teams I play I played, they were concerned about bringing young people to train in the first team. I apologize to anyone who felt offended by my comment. My intention was not to denigrate Lamine Yamal, on the contrary“He added.

Burgos concluded: “Football unites everything and everyone, that’s why it is the best sport because it does not discriminate based on sex, race, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation. This is what I believe in ! See you in football! “.

For its part, Movistar Plus+ suffered the first consequences of Burgos’ words immediately after the end of the match: Barcelona and PSG did not agree to answer questions of the news of said channel in the mixed zone, after the triumph of the team led by Xavi in ​​Paris. In another statement, the company called the comments “unfortunate” and also apologized “publicly,” saying it will “take appropriate measures to ensure these events do not occur again.”

“Due to the unpleasant comments made by one of Movistar Plus+’s collaborators in the preview of the UEFA Champions League match between PSG-FC Barcelona about Barça player Lamine Yamal, the platform publicly apologizes,” he said.

“Movistar Plus+ condemns any type of discrimination and will not allow these types of comments from any of the workers or collaborators linked to the platform. After what happened, the platform will take appropriate measures to ensure that these events do not happen again,” he concluded.

Shortly thereafter, the Spanish-owned Telefónica company announced Burgos’ departure “in accordance with the agreement internal code of conduct of Movistar Plus+”, which was immediate.

Despite the coach’s apologies, Movistar Plus+ decided to renounce his services due to the episode “where one of his collaborators made inappropriate comments about the player Lamine Yamal”.

According to what is said in Spain, the network’s displeasure is not only aimed at Burgos but also at the presenter and the other two commentators who were at her side, one of whom is none other than the Argentine Jorge Valdano.

Another of the protagonists of the controversy was Lamine’s father, who through a story on Instagram clarified his position in defense of the 16-year-old teenager: “Good morning to the world, I only ask for respect for other people’s children, thank you,” he wrote .

Burgos left a great memory in Spain for his work alongside Diego Simeone In Atletico Madridstarting a decade of glory for the Colchonero team, in which they won titles and became one of the great powers of Europe.

In 2021, Mono said goodbye to Cholo to follow his own path as a coach, which still has no clear direction: he had a short stint at Newell’s and lasted just six months in Greek football, until August 2022. He became a commentator television, recently criticized a proposal from Simeone and brought to light an old resentment that remained between them. However, this week the big controversy erupted regarding his television role.