Barcelona soccer star Lamine Yamal raises Palestinian flag during title parade

Coach says he doesn’t ‘normally like’ such gestures, but ‘it is his decision’; 18-year-old winger is expected to be one of the stars at the upcoming World Cup

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal waved a Palestinian flag during an open-top bus parade as the team celebrated winning the Spanish title.

The 18-year-old winger, who is already widely regarded as one of the best soccer players in the world, held the flag as the team bus drove through the streets of Barcelona on Monday. He also posted pictures of himself holding it on his Instagram account.

On Tuesday, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was questioned about Yamal’s decision to wave the flag.

“This I don’t normally like,” Flick told a news conference. “I spoke with him. I said if he wants this, it is his decision. He is old enough. He’s 18 years old.”

There has been a global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror atrocities in Israel. This has spread to sport and culture, and protests have been seen in sports such as soccer, cycling and basketball.

Israel has repeatedly rejected the criticism, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling CBS’s “60 Minutes” this week, for instance, that “Israel has gone to unbelievable lengths to get innocent civilians out of harm’s way. We [send] millions of text messages to them– make millions of phone calls to them, pamphlets, leaflets, you name it… whereas Hamas and Hezbollah go out of their way to keep their own people in harm’s way… The proportion of civilian casualties, noncombatants to combatants is one of the lowest in the history of modern urban warfare.”

Spain is also boycotting the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, set to begin Tuesday, after its state broadcaster voted to withdraw if Israel takes part in the event.

By holding the flag, Lamal appeared to indicate his support for Palestinians as an estimated nearly 750,000 people took to the streets to celebrate Barcelona’s La Liga title parade.

Flick said celebrations with fans after back-to-back titles were his priority.

“We are playing football and you can see what the people expect from us,” he said. “We are playing football to make the people happy. This is for me the first thing we have to do.”

Spain international Yamal is one of the leading contenders to take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as soccer’s biggest star.

He is expected to be one of the stars at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico held in June and July.