Barcelona star Lamine Yamal suffered a shock just days before the start of the season, after his father was stabbed in his local neighbourhood of Rocafonda in Mataro, 45 minutes north of Barcelona by car. His family is set to be forced out of Rocafonda, after his grandmother Fatima confirmed she had also received threats.
During an interview with Espejo Publico, which was carried by Sport, Fatima explained that the incident involving her son, and Lamine Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, had understandably instilled her with fear.
“With this Mounir [thing] I can’t eat. My stomach is closed from shock, from the fright. I can’t even eat or anything. I’m going to Barcelona with my son.”
She went on to claim that there was growing jealousy of the family from certain elements of the neighbourhood, and detailed that she too had been threatened.
“The other day the people who hit Mounir told me that there is something for me too. If they want to kill me, I’m here, sitting in the square.”
While the right in Spain have questioned Lamine Yamal’s dedication to Spain – before he played a key role in winning them Euro 2024 – for wearing the flags of his family’s origin (Guinea and Morocco), Fatima was clear that the 17-year-old was Spanish. His playing for Spain rather than the Atlas Lions has irritated others of Moroccan origin.
“He was born here, he studied here and this child is not from Morocco, do you understand me? My son has not forced him to do anything.”
It is a sad state of affairs, and it is not yet clear what the role of the law enforcement is in the situation, if indeed it was the same people responsible for stabbing Nasraoui. Lamine Yamal has moved to Sant Joan Despi, where he now lives with his cousin, close to the Barcelona training ground. He returns to Rocafonda often though, and invited some of his friends for a kickabout at the training ground recently.