Barcelona star Lamine Yamal waves Palestinian flag during title parade

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona star Lamine Yamal waved a Palestinian flag during an open top bus parade as the team celebrated winning the Spanish title.

The 18-year-old winger, who is already widely regarded as one of the best soccer players in the world, held the flag as the team bus drove through the streets of Barcelona on Monday. Yamal, who is Muslim, also posted pictures of him holding the flag on his Instagram account.

Nearly 750,000 people are estimated to have taken to the streets to celebrate Barcelona’s La Liga title parade.

There has been a global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza, which has spread to sport and culture. Protests have been seen in soccer, cycling and basketball. Spain is one of five countries boycotting this year’s Eurovision song contest to protest Israel’s inclusion.

Coach defends Yamal

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Yamal, whose father is Moroccan, is old enough to make his own decisions.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Flick was questioned about the teenager’s decision to wave the flag.

“This I don’t normally like,” he said. “I spoke with him. I said if he wants this, it is his decision. He is old enough. He’s 18 years old.”

Flick said celebrations with fans after back-to-back titles was his priority.

“We are playing football and you can see what the people expect from us,” he said. “We are playing football to make the people happy. This is for me the first thing we have to do.”

Spain international Yamal is one of the leading contenders to take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as soccer’s biggest star.

He is expected to be one of the stars at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico held in June and July.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer