Rajoy's racist comment about the French team: "It has a very high-level squad. That's true, without Frenchmen"

BarcelonaSince the Football World Cup began, former Spanish president Mariano Rajoy has returned to his commentator persona and regularly publishes his opinion articles in El Debate about the Spanish national team. Well, he sends audio notes and from El Debate they transcribe them and give them shape. In the article published this Friday night, Mariano Rajoy assessed the performance of the French team, Spain's next opponent in the World Cup. He highlighted their high level, but included a racist comment. "They also have a very high-level squad. That said, without Frenchmen."

In other words, he considers that, for example, Kylian Mbappé, whose mother is Algerian but was born in France, is not French. In fact, the French team only has three players who were not born in the country. "And they are playing very well. They will be a formidable opponent," adds Rajoy in his article.

The text doesn't end there, as he also assesses Spain's match against Belgium this Friday. He recalls that the Belgians eliminated the Spanish team in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup and that this year's match served to return the favor. Rajoy assures that he is "doubly" pleased. Why? "Because I am Spanish and also because the Belgian players are known as the Red Devils, and I don't like devils or reds," he states, except for the exception that confirms the general rule, which is the Spanish jersey," he states. And at this point, he refers to the Spanish government: "You only have to look back or, simply, see what is happening in our country today."