Germán 'Mono' Burgos Fired Over 'Inappropriate' Remark
Germán 'Mono' Burgos was dismissed as a collaborator of Movistar Plus+ following his unfortunate comments about Lamine Yamal.
The Movistar Plus+ platform has parted ways with its collaborator Germán 'Mono' Burgos following "inappropriate comments about player Lamine Yamal" made by the former Argentine goalkeeper on a program on Wednesday afternoon, prior to the PSG-FC Barcelona Champions League match.
"Movistar Plus+ and Germán 'El Mono' Burgos will immediately cease collaboration on the platform's programs, and the hosts of the program where these comments were made will be warned," the network stated in a press release.
The decision is taken "in compliance with the internal code of conduct of Movistar Plus+, which includes a zero-tolerance policy towards any discriminatory behavior," the network clarified.
In the said program, while footage of Yamal juggling the ball during warm-up was shown, Germán Burgos commented: "If things don't go well for him, he'll end up at a traffic light."
As a consequence of these remarks, which were considered offensive, neither PSG nor FC Barcelona provided interviews to Movistar Plus+ microphones after the match, which the Catalan team won 2-3.
The network and Burgos then issued apologies, and the Argentine released a statement early that Thursday morning, once again asking for forgiveness.
"I issue this statement reiterating my apologies for my words on yesterday's program. It was not my intention to harm Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona people, the players, UEFA, or the Movistar Plus+ platform where I work. In making my comment, I chose to make a joke about quality and praise virtues, in no case was it about any ethnicity or social class," he stated in the text.
"After spending so many years in football, I am moved to see young academy players. I especially admire the number of new talents that Barcelona is producing because I believe that quality ultimately always triumphs. I am a pro-youth coach and in all the teams I have been in, I have made sure to bring young players to train with the first team. I apologize to anyone who has been offended by my comment. My intention was not to denigrate Lamine Yamal, quite the opposite," he added.
Burgos concluded: "Football unites everything and everyone, that's why it's the best sport because it doesn't discriminate based on sex, race, religion, disability, age, or sexual orientation. That's what I believe in! See you in football!"
Meanwhile, Movistar Plus+ condemned "any type of discrimination" and announced "appropriate measures to ensure that these incidents do not happen again," which were finalized hours later with the termination of the contract with Burgos.
