Spain won a historic title by beating Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final. In that joyful moment of world victory at MetLife Stadium in New York, the Spanish wonder boy Lamine Yamal’s girlfriend, the content creator Ines Garcia, was present on the pitch beside him. As soon as the tournament ended, she began facing criticism over some videos and photographs. Breaking a long silence, she has now given her response to the matter.
On the basis of several videos and photographs that spread on social media after the World Cup final, some users claimed that the usual closeness between Yamal and Ines Garcia had not been visible during the celebrations. From there various rumours about their relationship spread. Many began saying their relationship was about to end. A hostile and hateful campaign then began against Ines, in which she faced insults and psychological harassment.
In response, Ines Garcia set out her feelings in a statement to the Spanish daily Marca. Describing her distress, she said: “I have been reading the comments made about me for hours. I try to stay strong, but at the end of the day I too am a human being. I have feelings too, I am a person too, I cry too.” Being in a relationship with someone well known, she said, does not mean a person stops having feelings.
Calling on people to be more empathetic, Ines wrote: “Before making any comment, remember that there is a person on the other side of the screen. She has a family, friends, fears, feelings. You do not know how much impact one comment of yours can have on her.”
The emotion becomes clearer still in the final part of her message. She said: “I am a woman with feelings too. My family also reads these comments. Like everyone else, I have good days and bad days. I am not telling anyone that they have to love me. I just want a little compassion and humanity. Because no one deserves to receive thousands of hateful messages.”
In her statement Ines said she had never tried to harm anyone. In her words: “I have done no harm to Lamine Yamal or to anyone else. I have not taken anything from anyone. I am just living my life in my own way.”
Finally Ines expressed the hope that one day the internet will become a place where cruelty is no longer encouraged. She said her only aim is to share the small moments of her own life, not to hurt anyone. In the last line of her message she wrote: “We are all trying to live our lives beautifully. I hope we will always choose compassion over hate.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report