European Championship talent Yamal is in an embarrassing position: if he plays the whole final, he could break the law

Chengdu Business Daily Red Star News

2024-07-13 11:35Posted on the official account of Red Star News of Chengdu Business Daily, Sichuan

▲ Yamal

In this European Cup, the Spain "genius" Lamine · Yamal's aura attracted the attention of the world, and his wonderful world wave in the semi-finals helped the Spain team advance to the final. The final of this European Championship will kick off at 3 a.m. Beijing time on July 15 (21 p.m. local time in Germany on July 14), which also puts teenager Yamal and Spain in an embarrassing situation: if Yamal plays the whole game in the final, it is likely to violate Germany law, resulting in a hefty fine and possible other penalties for the Spain Football Federation.

Yamal was born on July 13, 2007, and today coincides with his 17th birthday. His father, Morocco Munir is also only 34 years old, younger than all the veterans in the Spain team. Yamal was not yet 17 years old at the start of this European Championship, and as the schedule deepened, Yamal stood firmly in the absolute main position and played a performance that surprised the global audience. A photo of Yamal being bathed by Messi as a child also went viral on social networks, making people think about it.

▲ Messi bathed the newborn Yamal

However, Germany, the host country of this European Championship, has strict labor laws and laws on the protection of minors. Minors may not work more than 20 o'clock, and professional athletes like Yamal can relax to 23 o'clock. And the minimum age to participate in professional sports competitions in Germany law is 16 and a half years old, and Yamal's age is just over the standard. In addition, Germany law regulates the cultural education, physical protection and nutritional health of underage professional athletes, and sports institutions that do not meet the standards face fines and other sanctions.

With the regular time of a football match being 90 minutes, plus stoppage time and half-time breaks, it is likely that the final whistle will be more than 2 hours before kick-off. And after the game, the players also have to shake hands with the opponent, thank the fans, and have a certain chance of being "caught" by reporters and on-site hosts to interview, which is considered work according to Germany law. Strictly speaking, if Yamal played the full game and participated in the post-match activities normally, his "finish time" was destined to be later than 23 o'clock, even without extra time and penalty shootouts, which would be contrary to Germany law.

According to reports, the Royal Spain Football Federation (FA) could face a fine of 32,000 euros if Yamal plays the full game, and it is unclear whether there are other sanctions beyond the financial penalty. In the group stage against Croatia, Italy and Albania before that, the Spain coaching staff replaced Yamal in 86, 71 and 19 minutes respectively, perfectly avoiding the illegality. Even in the knockout rounds, against hosts Germany and strong rivals France, Yamal was substituted in the 63rd and 89th minutes respectively.

At present, the Spain coaching staff has not revealed any plans for how Yamal will be used in the final, but many Spain netizens who can't hold back their excitement say that if Yamal's excellent performance can bring Spain the championship trophy, then it is worth the heavy fine.

Red Star News reporter Zheng Zhi

Edited by Pan Li and edited by Guan Li

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