This is a new case that could have been done without at FC Barcelona. Although it will not have any consequences in terms of sport or transfer market, it concerns one of the most influential men at the club. He is Enric Masip, advisor to Joan Laporta and close friend of the president, in addition to being a member of the club’s sports committee. The former handball player for the club and the Spanish national team is at the heart of the controversy, since Internet users have discovered that he shared and published content deemed xenophobic, racist and misogynistic on his social networks.
“The statistics of the Ministry of Equality show that 12.6% of the population commits 50% of femicides. That is to say that proportionally foreigners kill 4 times more women than the average of the population, and 7 times more than the Spanish” indicates the content of a post he shared on his account on platform X. “A sub-Saharan who arrived in the Canary Islands illegally was housed in a 4-star hotel in Guardamar del Segura (Alicante). He sexually abused a cleaning lady at the establishment. The hotel has been hosting 280 irregular immigrants since October. The judge let him go free!”can be seen in another tweet shared by Masip. And he has reposted a good number of messages with similar content, considered intolerable by many Internet users, and coming from accounts very far to the right on the Spanish political and media scene.
He refuses to apologize
Contacted by the newspaper The PeriodicalMasip refused to apologize: “I don’t give my opinion. I just highlight interesting information and situations. I show what’s happening on the street.”. As indicated ASthese online behaviors clearly go against the club’s ethical codes validated in 2021, which stipulate in particular that “Everyone linked to FC Barcelona must defend diversity and equality without discriminating on the basis of race, belief, political or union ideas, language, gender or sexual orientation”. Responsible use of social networks is also included in these internal regulations.
Masip also deactivated his X account during the day on Wednesday. While Barça has also publicly positioned itself on numerous occasions as an open and inclusive club, Masip’s actions logically stand out. The club’s ethics committee could meet to rule on this situation and this new bad buzz that Barça could have done without. Suffice to say that heads could roll quite quickly…
