An open letter to VERSUS, re: Mapi León, Daniela Caracas

We write this not as arbiters of English-language content on Spanish women’s football, but as one of many outlets who pride ourselves on our accurate and well-researched coverage.

Versus is not only not upholding the standards of this community, but they are also causing harm by perpetuating a false narrative that was invented and shared predominantly by social media accounts.

The irony that people who are not involved in Spanish women’s football, are taking control of this narrative to denounce racism that did not happen, is not lost on us either.

First, we would like to reiterate our opposition to all forms of discrimination in and out of football, on and off the pitch. At the forefront of our concerns in this regard are the racism and hateful comments directed at Daniela Caracas from social media accounts in response to the incident, and also the homophobia and hate directed at Mapi León by other accounts.

If Versus is committed to tackling specifically racism in women’s football, we would be happy to see them address such comments.

Second, while we believe it is generally unhelpful to engage with social media discussions while Espanyol, Barcelona, and the RFEF are investigating, we believe it is even more unhelpful for accounts to do so when they are demonstrably incorrect and have the power to push not even misinformation but outright lies.

In this regard we are disappointed to see many social media users, and especially the large brand Versus, continue falsely asserting that Mapi León was accused of racism and transphobia by Espanyol.

The very first statement Espanyol published about the incident requested that people refrain from commenting and speculating on other things with regards to León touching Daniela Caracas, clearly directed at the allegations of racism and transphobia. Such allegations then and now have only been made by social media users. When the director of Espanyol Femení was later asked what León said, following Barcelona’s statement, the representative said that what Caracas heard was León asking “what are you doing”.

As Espanyol and Caracas have asserted there was no racist or transphobic words or, in Caracas’ experience, motivation, we believe it is incredibly irresponsible to be peddling a demonstrably incorrect narrative that was invented and propagated by uninvolved parties – many of whom do not understand Spanish in the first place.

For content creators to claim to be supporting Espanyol and Caracas, yet instead are ignoring their own words in favor of shilling a scandal, feels like another injury to the player. She is not a tool in your war on righteousness.

We personally believe it does a disservice to tackling racism in women’s football to center such an incorrect narrative, while simultaneously showing the considerable power that UK media has in controlling narratives about women’s football in other nations – a form of erasure itself.

We feel this discussion should center on the continued abuse directed towards Spanish footballers from the stands and social media, and request that media not directly involved in Spanish football better utilize freelancers who do specialize in the subject.

We, at Blaugranagram, deem it necessary to create safe spaces for discussing everything, and urge other media to do so, as well. Topics including but not limited to LGBTQ-phobia and racism, need to be addressed and eradicated, and we remain committed to doing so, using facts as one of many foundations to eliminate something all too common in this sport.

Finally, we await the outcome of the relevant investigations from the involved parties for a conclusion to this incident.

On behalf of the Blaugranagram staff,

Omar Hawwash, CEO.