According to Spanish media outlet COPE, Ceuta coach Jose Romero has said the team should not play its opening Segunda Division match because of the recent large-scale migrant crossings in Ceuta.
Speaking at a news conference before the first round of the competition, Romero expressed his frustration at the situation and said football had a responsibility to draw attention to events affecting the city.
“I think football has a huge communication influence, and we need to use this platform to speak out about what is happening here,” Romero said.
The Ceuta manager added that, if the decision were his to make, the side would not take part in the fixture.
Romero described the circumstances as a “disgrace” and criticised what he sees as insufficient attention and support for Ceuta from mainland Spain. He said the city’s problems were not receiving the same level of national concern that might follow a similar incident elsewhere.
“It seems that once you leave our borders, not many people care about what happens here. If the same thing happened in another city, the scale of protests and solidarity would certainly be much larger,” he said.
His comments came after a large number of migrants crossed the border into Ceuta. Romero had already spoken publicly about the situation in the immediate aftermath of that incident.
Several hours after the crossings, he posted a photograph of Ceuta on his personal social media account. The image was accompanied by the message: “Ceuta is inviolable, Ceuta deserves respect.”
Romero also said that the city and its residents were not receiving enough attention from outside Ceuta. He warned that further action could follow if the concerns raised at a planned demonstration were not heard.
“If they don’t hear the voices from Sunday’s demonstration, then we will have to take other actions to make ourselves heard,” he said.
The coach’s remarks place the club’s opening Segunda Division fixture against the wider backdrop of continuing concern in Ceuta over migration and the response from authorities and the rest of Spain.
Romero said football’s public reach gave the sport a platform to communicate the seriousness of the situation. His stance reflects his view that the match should not be treated as separate from the circumstances facing the city.
The comments were reported by COPE following the recent migrant crossings and before Ceuta’s first match of the Segunda Division season.
