Spanish TV station sack pundit after racist 'joke' aimed at Barcelona star Lamine Yamal

Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus+ have sacked pundit German Burgos after he made a racist comment about Barcelona star Lamine Yamal live on air.

Yamal, 16, was one of the stars of Barcelona’s exhilarating 3-2 away win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday night. But the team’s result and his performance were overshadowed by a comment made by Burgos before kick-off.

As the Barca youngster was shown doing kick-ups in the warm-up, one pundit said: "Look at the quality, look at the touches from Lamine Yamal." Former Atletico Madrid and Argentina goalkeeper Burgos then remarked: “If he doesn't do well, he ends up at a traffic light”, the insinuation being that he would be poor if it were not for football. Yamal was born in Spain to Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean parents.

Movistar Plus+ felt the negative impacts of Burgos’ words immediately, with Barca and PSG players refusing to speak to the TV channel post-match, having been informed about what was said. The broadcaster’s on-pitch reporter, Ricardo Sierra, said UEFA, Barca and PSG were “tremendously angry” about the comments.

Burgos, who was previously Diego Simeone’s assistant manager at Atleti, issued a grovelling apology in which he insisted his words were clumsy, not racist, but it hasn’t prevented his employer from sacking him. Movistar Plus+ said on Thursday they would “immediately cease their collaboration agreement” with Burgos and would “appropriate measures to ensure that such events do not recur”

“Movistar Plus+ condemns any kind of discrimination and will not allow this type of comment from any of the employees or collaborators linked to the platform,” it said. Burgos, 54, wrote a lengthy statement on