Tomorrow at 9 the Spain-France game will be played, and banal Spanish nationalism is infiltrating everywhere, including the mobile screens of Movistar customers, which, instead of saying “Movistar” says “with the selection”, regardless of whether the client completely ignores it of the World Cup or the selection bothers them. The performance that states and companies derive from their sports selections explains to what extent sport is also politics and identity is also business. A cruel paradox for so many Catalans who have at some point shouted "neither Spain, nor France, Catalan Countries", and it turns out that tomorrow, it will be one or the other. About M. Rajoy and his comment that France plays without French saying that: first, following their reasoning, Spain plays without Spaniards, and second, that Republican France has felt very offended, but it would be good for them to consider whether the indignation they feel about the racist comment is consistent with the absence of racism in everyday life. Contrary to what this article says, it is not that people like Rajoy bring the World Cup into the realm of identity, but rather that the entire World Cup is a competition of identities (one only needs to look at the anthems, the flags, and the heads of state in the stands). Another matter is what is understood by national identity in each country. But this week there is another important appointment, which is on Thursday, the day on which the Court of Justice of the European Union must rule on the amnesty, specifically on whether the crime of embezzlement is amnestible or not. It is another episode in this judicial quarrel that the Spanish judiciary's refusal to apply the amnesty law as approved by the legislative power more than two years ago, in May 2024, has become. Remember that, to prevent its application, the Supreme Court ruled that, since the referendum was paid for with public money, the leaders of the Process personally enriched themselves because they saved themselves from putting money from their own pockets, like someone who pays for their daughter's wedding with public money (the example is from the Supreme Court). Well, on Thursday the CJEU will rule, but even if the ruling says that the amnesty is in accordance with European law, it will not be automatically applied, but rather then, the Constitutional Court must decide whether the Supreme Court's interpretation is correct or not, presumably it will say no, but this ruling will not arrive until the autumn, practically when Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig will have been in exile for 9 years.  

For those of us who like football, it's very difficult to enjoy the World Cup, with all this display of banal nationalism and cheap geopolitics. You might tell me, as the elders used to say, and as Aesop said before, that the fox, when it can't reach something, says it's sour. And indeed, I wish Catalonia could participate in this circus, and it irritates me that FIFA instigates a fever of patriotism — as it does every four years — which, in our case, is the expression of a substituted identity. When faced with a World Cup, everyone chooses a jersey, and if the Catalan one isn't available, they put on another, be it the Spanish one (because it's where Catalans play, by decree), the Moroccan one, or the Argentine one, which is the one for many newcomers. In Catalonia, everyone has the right to exercise, except Catalans.Spain is a fragile nation and knows that sport softens the cracks. Since now, in addition, there are many Catalans in the Spanish team, a Muslim and a black person, Spanish nationalism progress has prepared a speech tailored to them, evading the fact that the purported plurality of the red is based on an imposition. Obviously, they have the complicity of the Catalan players, who adapt to the situation because they do not want to be under suspicion. Lamine Yamal speaks Catalan, if necessary, when he wears the Barça jersey, but he gives it up at the World Cup so that there are no doubts about his loyalties, which may be those of the heart but also those dictated by common sense and the pressure of his environment: look, Lamine, they already look at you strangely because you are half Moroccan and Muslim, let's not make it more complicated with demonstrations of Catalanism.

66,000 t-shirts would practically fill the stadium where the World Cup final will be played on July 19 in New Jersey. But these 66,000 t-shirts are the fake World Cup kits that the National Police have seized in an investigation affecting various points in Spain, including Barcelona and Girona. They are seven tons of fake clothing that have led to the arrest of up to 95 people.

While the FIFA World Cup fills the impeccable stadiums of the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the entertainment industry deploys its machinery of millions, exclusive television rights, and global marketing. But far from this golden showcase, there is another football. A stubborn, free, and essential game that needs no turf or giant screens. It is the global game of bare feet. From the remnants of the destroyed streets of Gaza to the outskirts of Buenos Aires or the communities of Nigeria, the ball rolls, moved purely by the game. It generates identity, survival, and rebellion. Where advertising does not reach, sport maintains its truth intact and the dreams of the little ones.