“It would be reckless” – Joan Laporta hits out at Luis de la Fuente for Lamine Yamal's misfortune
Last weekend, Lamine Yamal suffered a minor injury during Spain's UEFA Nations League win against Denmark. Despite hopes from the La Roja camp that the 17-year-old sensation would be fine to face Serbia three days later, he was eventually ruled out of that match, and thus returned to Barcelona.
Despite this, Barcelona was not satisfied with the behavior shown by the Spanish Football Federation during the incident. Joan Laporta made this clear when he spoke to Barca One, as per Relief. He also took aim at Spain coach Luis de la Fuente for comments he made recently.
“If (de la Fuente) believes that the clubs should be careful with the players, they should give us the authority to send players for international work or not to send them at all. It is up to the clubs that pay them, and that it must be considered. It is true that they play only one match with the national team, but we, the clubs, are paying the players.
“We don't want what happened with Pedri to repeat itself. Lamine suffers a lot of stumbles and to have made Lamine play on Saturday and Tuesday would be unwise, but what I don't like is that they tried to convince him to play. Of course we made arrangements, we have to defend our interests and they understood our approach and that of the player. The correct criterion was imposed.”
Laporta: “International breaks? The mandatory rule must be changed. The player, if he has the freedom to decide, can go or not go according to his situation. The player must be protected.”
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 17, 2024
Laporta also added to this by stating that he is not in favor of the UEFA Nations League being played.
“I am against the League of Nations, they have opened a competition through the back door. The rights of the players are not respected. The clubs are the ones who pay for this. It must be regulated for the benefit of the players and the clubs
Fortunately for BarcelonaLamine Yamal seems to be fine. He was back in training on Thursday, giving them a strong chance to face Sevilla this weekend.
