The mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, and the spokesperson for Más Madrid, Tesh Sidi, starred in a tense debate on the show 'Todo es mentira' over the presence of Pedro Sánchez and Donald Trump at the World Cup final. Sidi accused Albiol of being the first to politicise football by labelling Borja Iglesias as 'far-left'.
The set of Todo es mentira was the scene this Tuesday of a heated confrontation between the mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, and the spokesperson for Más Madrid in Congress, Tesh Sidi. The reason for the debate: the politicisation of Spain's victory in the World Cup and, specifically, Pedro Sánchez's greeting to Donald Trump in the VIP box.
Albiol began his intervention defending that the behaviour of the authorities was institutionally correct and criticised those who tried to “politicise what the Spanish national team represents.” The mayor of Badalona recounted that on Sunday he was at the giant screen set up in his city, where 15,000 people of all ages and social classes celebrated the victory without political distinction.
“Those people were not there because they were right-wing or left-wing. What united them was a sporting project, a selection, what it represents, but it has nothing to do with politics,” argued Albiol, who added that “sometimes politicians themselves or in discussions we dedicate ourselves to trying to analyse and find a double meaning.”
Tesh Sidi picked up the baton and pointed out that at award ceremonies “everything tends to be quite protocol-based.” The MP defended that Sánchez was in the VIP box as the head of government and represents all Spaniards. She then took a jab at Albiol: “Despite your speech that it shouldn’t be politicised, you were the first to say that Borja Iglesias is far-left.”
The mayor of Badalona replied that he had not politicised and that he only commented that Borja Iglesias did not look Trump in the face “because he feels antipathy, because he is an ideological person.” Sidi interrupted him: “But did you say far-left or not? Or have I made that up?”
“Let me finish, I have listened to you,” Albiol responded. “Well, I haven’t said anything, I spoke for ten seconds,” Sidi complained. The mayor insisted that Borja Iglesias represents the national team just like any other player and that “we don’t have to go looking for ideological issues.”
“But I haven’t said anything, Albiol. When you let me speak, I will talk,” Sidi continued, visibly annoyed. “Albiol, who has said anything political? Who said it? Let me finish. Last week it was Serrano, the week before it was Ana, now it’s Albiol. It’s always the same on this programme. It can’t be,” the collaborator raised her voice, referring to previous interventions on the show.
Albiol tried to put an end to it: “What I said is that no one had gotten involved in the political mess of the national team. The national team represents everyone and is a common project. I only said that those of you who say football shouldn’t be politicised, you were the first to say that Borja, that if he didn’t look at Trump, he has certain far-left values.” “And so what? But that’s not politics, Tesh Sidi,” he concluded.
The tense exchange of statements has generated a reaction on social media, where many users have criticised the tone of the debate. The programme, hosted by Risto Mejide, has been pointed out by Sidi for not mediating in the interruptions.
The controversy comes after Albiol himself, in previous statements, had referred to Borja Iglesias as a player of “far-left” for not having greeted Trump. The mayor of Badalona maintains that his comment was not political, but a simple observation of the footballer's ideology.
For her part, Tesh Sidi has defended that football and politics cannot be separated when there are gestures like Borja Iglesias's, and has urged not to normalise labelling athletes by their political opinions.
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