Party with dwarfs: how Lamine Yamal shrank to a dwarf on his 18th birthday

Every time you think things can't get any more presumptuous, a rich footballer takes it up a notch. As if there were another challenge among their peers besides the competition on the pitch: Who is the champion of decadence? Former Bayern winger Franck Ribéry once had his steak gilded. That was harmless enough; no one was hurt. But Benjamin Mendy was a different story; he hosted sex parties and treated women like commodities. There was great protest when FC Zurich signed him last season .

Last weekend, a seemingly oversized footballer provided the next example of unimaginative decadence: Lamine Yamal , the celebrated child prodigy of international football, celebrated his 18th birthday in grand style, with 200 invited guests, a famous DJ, and a showmanship. As is customary at such festivities among football millionaires, cell phones and cameras were prohibited. Nevertheless, photos of dwarfs soon circulated on the internet. The Barça winger had booked them as an attraction, for entertainment.

The Spanish association ADEE, which advocates for people with achondroplasia and other skeletal dysplasias, immediately condemned the display of dwarfs, and the Ministry of Social Rights contacted the public prosecutor's office. Since 2023, it has been illegal in Spain to employ dwarfs as entertainment at parties. Just on Tuesday, the law was tightened further: Public humiliation is now considered a serious offense, and Yamal faces a fine of up to one million euros for engaging in discrimination.

Like Alejandro Garnacho two years ago. The Man Utd winger posed with two dwarfs at his 19th birthday party. One was dressed as Lionel Messi , the other as Cristiano Ronaldo . Funny.

It's no coincidence that wealthy footballers like Yamal come up with such ideas. The degradation of dwarfs for entertainment purposes has long been systematic. At court, they were forced to entertain the privileged; later, they became part of traveling circus companies. As recently as the 1980s, there was a "sport" called dwarf throwing , in which dwarfs wearing protective clothing were hurled as far as possible. It was even shown on television at the time.

But 40 years have passed since then. Only the top male footballers seem to have been unaware of the social developments of the past decades. Human rights, women's rights , was there anything? The dignity of vulnerable groups ? Never heard of it. But how could they? They live in their own bubble, sometimes being showered with money as minors. Yamal receives up to 40 million euros gross annually from FC Barcelona. You have to have a very strong character not to lose touch with reality, not to want to buy everything you can buy. Very few teenagers are.

By the way, Yamal didn't just invite people of short stature to his party. He also invited women. The condition for their attendance: They had to have a certain bust size. Any other ideas? Or just far too much money and far too little imagination? Lamine Yamal has so far won the challenge for the most decadent behavior. But humanly, he shrunk to a dwarf on his 18th birthday. Happy growing up!

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »