COPE Discusses Rodri Mocking Valencia: He Wants to Apologize, but Barcelona Allowed It to Happen

On COPE radio's program, Rodri's 'offensive remarks' toward Valencia were discussed. COPE pointed out that Rodri's words were 'not made with malicious intent' and that he hopes to ask for forgiveness.

COPE discusses Rodri's comments

I want to say one thing: this was clearly Rodri's mistake. First of all, on the day of his first start for Barcelona, he knew there could be 20 cameras in the substitutes' area pointing at him, yet he acted so naively.

But after watching the replay footage, I have to honestly say that I do not think there was any malice in his comments. There was no intention to mock in those words and gestures, and he was not laughing at Valencia. If that were not the case, I would not need to defend Rodri.

In fact, what he said came more from surprise, as if saying, 'This situation is really bad.' It was like a player who had spent many years in the Premier League suddenly discovering a Valencia team that was completely unfamiliar to him. I genuinely think this way, especially because many people were saying: 'If this was Vinicius, if Vinicius did this, we would definitely criticize him heavily.'

But listen, if he really did this with that kind of body language... the kind of body language he showed, people would have criticized him severely already. I insist on this point, and I want to emphasize that this comes entirely from a love of football: when playing for a school team, how many times have you told teammates, 'These guys are terrible, absolutely awful,' or even said things like, 'They cannot even get past midfield'?

So what I want to say is that I truly believe there was no intention to mock in Rodri's body language. But this behavior is ultimately harmful to him. The action is full of football spirit but also works against him, like sitting down and telling teammates, 'That Valencia winger is tearing us apart.' Saying something like that is very much part of football culture. However, I think it takes away Rodri's image of humility, just like his celebration at the Ballon d'Or ceremony, when he smiled, sang, and mocked his biggest rival Vinicius with 'Vinicius Ballon d'Or,' 'Vinicius Ballon d'Or.'

In my view, both incidents were major mistakes, and they took away from his image of humility. Now he has become a super 'football fan,' like someone sitting down and complaining about how bad the referee is and how terrible someone is. But if it really happened as people say, then he should come out and explain it clearly.

Okay, this is the second part, and this is what I want to say: Rodri is frustrated. He is frustrated because of this incident, because it hurt his teammates and the fans who were cheering for him just seconds earlier, and that pains him. In other words, Rodri is still the same person. The fans may feel the same way as he does. Do you understand what I mean? It is really difficult when someone says bad things about people close to you.

Valencia fans were not especially angry today. For example, Javi Guerra might say: 'Damn, I really admire him for doing that to a teammate.' What I mean is that he is upset about both things, both because of his teammates and because of the fans who applauded him earlier.

Rodri previously mentioned that gesture, saying: 'Man, what a warm reception I received at Mestalla.' Rodri wants to apologize, and he must apologize and explain that this was a mistake he made. Also, Rodri does not have accounts on the two major social media platforms, nor does he have any other social media accounts.

Apart from issuing a statement through the media, he has had no communication with the outside world. Why? Because Barcelona has allowed this situation to happen, while Rodri wants to apologize.

I think that if tomorrow Barcelona's press officer tells Rodri, 'No, do not come out,' he must say: 'Listen, I am still going to come out because I have to.' This cannot be decided by a press officer who has only known Rodri for 10 minutes, because Rodri has only been at Barcelona for 10 minutes.

Moreover, Rodri is a world champion, a Ballon d'Or winner, and a European champion. In this country, he is far more than just a Barcelona player. Rodri is far more than just a Barcelona player because he is the captain of the Spanish national team.

Therefore, after Rodri's match tomorrow, he will go to the mixed zone as usual, or I do not know exactly what he will do, but he will provide an explanation, and that is what Rodri should do.