Barcelona star Lamine faces probe by Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights for hiring group of dwarves as entertainers at his 18th birthday party last weekend
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal during a Champions League match vs Borussia Dortmund on April 15. Pic/Getty Images
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal is facing an investigation regarding the presence of a group of people with dwarfism as entertainers at his 18th birthday party last weekend, Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights told AFP on Tuesday.
The winger celebrated with a private event on Saturday night in Olivella, around 50 kilometres west of Barcelona, which the ministry asked the prosecutor’s office to probe, following a complaint from the Association for People with Achondroplasia and Other Skeletal Dysplasias with Dwarfism (ADEE).
“The ADEE has filed a complaint, so this ministry has asked the prosecutor’s office to investigate to see if the law has been violated and, therefore, the rights of people with disabilities [have been],” Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights told AFP.
ADEE ‘publicly denounces the hiring of people with dwarfism as entertainment’ and said they would take legal action as it ‘perpetuates stereotypes, fuels discrimination, and undermines the image and rights’ of people with disabilities.
Guests were not permitted to film at the event, but a video emerged of a group of people with dwarfism heading into the party. “No one disrespected us, we were allowed to work in peace,” said one of the performers anonymously on Catalan radio station RAC1, saying there were four of them present.
“We’re normal people who dedicate ourselves to what we love doing in an absolutely legal way. For a couple of years these people [the ADEE] have wanted to harm us, they want to prevent us from doing what we like, but they have not offered any work or training to those who are affected. All this fuss has come about purely because it was Lamine Yamal’s party,” the performer said before adding that they dance, deliver drinks and do magic tricks to entertain guests at the events they work at.
Yamal is a candidate to win the Ballon d’Or after a helping Barcelona win La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup last season. Yamal’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
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