Lamine Yamal unlikely to play the entire match against Germany in the quarter-finals?

According to Germany’s Youth Protection Law, talented young Spanish midfielder Lamine Yamal will hardly be able to play the entire match against the host EURO 2024 in the upcoming quarter-finals.

 

Lamine Yamal may not play extra time for Spain

Spain has played 4 matches at Euro 2024, 3 of which were played at 9pm German time (2am Vietnam time). However, it was not until Spain won Georgia 4-1 in the knockout round that the German press paid attention to this time frame. The reason? That is because in the Spanish squad, Lamine Yamal is only 16 years old. According to Germany’s Youth Protection Law, a person under 18 is not allowed to participate in sports activities (competition, interviews…) after 11pm.

Yamal is the most impressive young player at EURO 2024. He played very well in the 3-0 win over Croatia, the 1-0 win over Italy and was also quite convincing when he was put on the field in the win over Albania. The player currently playing for Barcelona exploded in the win over Georgia in the knockout round. The match ended before 11 pm, so Yamal and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) did not violate the German Youth Protection Law. When asked about the penalty for Yamal if he worked overtime in the match against Georgia, a representative of the Cologne city government said: “Whether or not there will be a penalty for violating the regulations is up to the responsible authority to decide, but we cannot comment on Yamal at this time because there has been no violation.”

The quarter-final between Germany and Spain will also kick off at 9pm. The time limit of the law is easily exceeded if the match goes into extra time and penalties. This could force coach Luis de la Fuente to use the 16-year-old player from the start and only be able to play the full 90 minutes of official play, as in the recent match against Georgia. If the match goes into extra time, the 62-year-old coach will have to consider whether to continue to keep Yamal on the field or not. The penalty for violating the use of athletes after 11am could force the RFEF to pay up to 30,000 euros. It seems that this is also a slight advantage for the host Germany in the upcoming quarter-finals.