Borja Iglesias discredits Rajoy's racist comments about France: "It surprises me that at this point we are still with these things"

Borja Iglesias has spoken out about the controversy generated by Mariano Rajoy's statements regarding the French national team. The Spanish striker, concentrated with the national team before the World Cup semifinal against France, has acknowledged that the former president's words surprised him and has defended the multicultural nature of society and current football.

The controversy arose after Rajoy wrote in a column in 'El Debate' newspaper that France has "a very high-level squad. That is, without Frenchmen," a statement that provoked a strong reaction in both France and Spain, being interpreted as questioning the origin of the French internationals. The French Government even described those words as "racist" and "absolutely unacceptable," while the French embassy in Madrid recalled that all summoned footballers are French citizens.

Asked by DAZN during the national team's concentration, Borja Iglesias explained that he learned about the controversy upon landing after a trip and did not hide his surprise: "It surprises me that at this point we are dealing with these things, damn it... because I already understand life and multicultural society." The striker defended that diversity is part of the richness of any country: "Each of us is from a place, each of us is in a way, and I believe that is the richness we have," citing France as an example of a nation enriched by people of different origins.

Despite being critical of the content of the statements, Iglesias avoided attributing bad faith to the former president. "I can understand that he didn't say it with bad intentions, but I think we have to be a little more careful with that," he pointed out. His words come on the eve of one of the most important World Cup matches for Spain and once again place the footballer among the most committed voices on social issues in sports.