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    Why does Athletic Bilbao almost never sign Black players? | OMG Investigation
    World Cup 2026

    Why does Athletic Bilbao almost never sign Black players? | OMG Investigation



    Athletic Bilbao is a club respected by the whole world for its Basque only player policy. But why does Athletic Club Bilbao only sign Basque players and why do they very rarely sign any Black players? Find out in our latest Oh My Goal investigation all you need to know about Athletic Club Bilbao’s signing policy.

    #AthleticBilbao #Iñaki Williams #Investigation

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    © Oh My Goal – Jellysmack

    View 47 Comments

    47 Comments

    8. Caoimhín on

      Bit of a deceptive title, bordering on disgusting, for the video. Just say why it doesn’t sign players with no connection to the region.

    9. GUYVA 23 on

      Its got fuck all to do with black players blue like a smurf or green like the incredible hulk. Its to do with born or trained in the region from young age. Its tradition and should stay like that.

    13. Joseph H on

      They only sign players from the basque, there a club with ethics don’t matter what colour you are if your from the basque and your good enough!!

    19. Christopher Appolis on

      Thanks so much for this video, it really clears the air on their player selection process. I'm from South Africa and thought the selection process was primarily based on racism.

    21. David Gonzalez on

      All good the review mate but…… you kind of called us racist society you know what I mean?😅 everyone in the Basque Country took this as something completely normal, who cares about your colour or whatever?…..you good and basque? Come to San Mamés!! 🤟🏻🤟🏻😎 every single person who lives in the Basque Country is part of the community, but with Athletic you have to born in there, to keep it real you know?💪🏻

    22. Ibai Isasi Alonso on

      I'm sorry but this video is pretty bad and a lot of wrong information. 1. Nobody from the social mass of Athletic club has doubted that Iñaki can play. that is done by the social masses of other teams. 2. Athletic is reprimanded in its beginnings for playing with foreigners, which makes it change its policy and not for the mere fact of winning. 3. Iñaki is called a panther not only because of his skin color but also because of his speed. He is an archetype of player that we have never had. 4. Iñaki cannot speak basque language.

    24. Javier Luces on

      The only addition I would do to Athletic's philosophy, would be the ability to sign players from all over the world who speak basque. Euskara, the basque language, is an unique language and also is considered for basques as a national identification card. People not born in the basque country who speak the language are treated like basques themselves. That would open a door for a lot of kids (mostly basque descendants) in the world, who play football and also learn the language in the Euskal Etxeak (cultural basque houses) all over the globe. The belonging sense from those kids would be almost the same as players developed in the Basque Country, and would open the scouting borders for countries like Argentina, Chile or Uruguay.

    28. Marcos Bilbao on

      Athletic’s philosofy has nothing to do with racism. It’s just that we only sign people that is related to the Basque Country, and casually, there just haven’t been more black people. In fact, we now have a coupel of black players in the second team. So proud of my team!!!

    29. Albin Johnsson on

      Iñaki is a proper legend. And so is Atheltic. Beautiful club. They are a shining light in a dark age of hyper-commercialized football, doing things their own way, cultivating talent from the region. Love it.

    33. Paa Tha Geng on

      Then certainly the rules should have been applied on recruiting coaching staff and other board members too but unfortunately it doesn't work like that, then it means we still experiencing racism in modern day 21st century and not anywhere than modern day spain🇪🇸

    36. Bat bi on

      Creo que no entendéis que la inmigración en el país vasco es relativamente reciente, la mayoría estaba en Madrid, Barcelona o cualquiera de las otras comunidades, si no tienes jugadores negros en otros equipos no los puedes fichar.

    40. mrugod on

      They signed English players when they first formed, but then other teams complained then they changed their policies to only basque players to shut them up

    42. Nic Smith on

      Since this video came out, Malcom Adu Ares has debuted for the team, making him the fourth black player to suit up in an official match. Junior Bita and Alemu Plazaola look like they can make the first team in the next 5 years. At the u16 level, theres Abdoulaye Maiga and Ardaitz Villorejo (half Afro-Colombian) and a bunch of other guys. Theres even an afro-basque kid from Bilbao who's now starring for Villarreal's youth team. By 2030, it really won't be rare at all for Athletic to field players of African or other non-Basque heritage. Its just that until 25-30 years ago, most of the immigration to the area came from poorer regions of Spain. Ernesto Valverde was a non-Basque "immigrant", for example, just one from the Extremadura region who arrived with his parents as a small kid.

    44. montimuros on

      It was never about race. Also, that part talking about black people being "co-opted" into speaking Basque/Catalan and being a part of Basque/Catalan nationalism(?? Everyone, regardless of race, is expected to learn the local language. That's just common courtesy.

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