Playing soccer has been something very common in the playgrounds of all schools in Spain. However, there are those who They want to end this tradition due to “sexist” reasons and to end violence.
A few days ago, the councilor of Unidas Podemos in the Sant Antoni City Council (Ibiza), Angie Roselló, requested that the City Council intervene so that football fields are eliminated in the municipality’s schools and tracks are created for “inclusive and non-competitive” activities. A proposal that was rejected by the government team because it would violate “the autonomy of educational centers.” “Traditionally, soccer fields occupy up to 80% of the playground, occupying the center and being used mostly by boys, while girls are relegated to the margins,” said Roselló, who wants to replace these fields with “mixed collective play spaces.”
The councilor has also criticized that football, unlike other sports such as basketball, It is a source of conflict, an appreciation that the socialist spokesperson, Antonio Lorenzo, has shared when stating that it is “a toxic practice.” The motion rejected by Unidas Podemos also called for planting trees to create climate shelters in schools.
“It is a toxic practice”
“Football is a toxic sports practice. It generates serious coexistence problems, because children imitate what they see, something that does not happen with basketball,” added Antonio Lorenzo, Physical Education teacher, who recalled that “there are schools that, internally, are already making their plans to direct their spaces to more natural areas, with more land and less asphalt.”
“Football is a problem and That is why it has been prohibited in some schools, such as Can Coix or the CEIP Sant Antoni. Children’s fights only happen in football, I have not seen another sport where there are more hooligans and more hooligans, I have not seen it in basketball,” Roselló stated.
The PP harshly criticized the proposal, calling it a lack of respect. “Football is not the problem and promoting any type of sport is positive. Girls can also play soccer,” stated Eva Prats, Councilor for Education.
