Basque Handball Player Banned from Competition for Displaying Basque Flag

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Some interesting news has been happening in the world of handball this past week.

A Basque handball player, Bixintxo Bilbao, was banned last week from playing internationally for one year. Why? Because he held up the Basque flag on the winner’s podium at the 2018 World Championships of Basque Pelota in Barcelona.

Bilbao and partner Peio Larralde won gold in the pairs category. During the presentation of the medals, Bilbao held up the Basque flag, despite representing France during the competition.

According to some who witnessed the medal ceremony, the ikurrina (Basque flag) brought many cheers from the crowd. But clearly some powerful people at the International Basque Pelota Federation (FIPV), who organized the competition, were less than enthused.

Four months after the fact, the FIPV reprimand Bilbao for his action.

The one year ban from playing internationally would mean Bilbao could not compete in the upcoming World Cup of Basque Pelota in Paris. This is a major qualifying competition for the next World Championships to be hosted by Biarritz in 2022.

The ban on Bilbao by the FIPV sparked a backlash from many of Bilbao’s supporters in the Basque Country. Several Basque athletes and the autonomous Basque government of Euskadi rallied to support the athlete.

In an interview with ETB (Basque television), Bilbao said, “It’s sad and shameful that it’s an offense. We must be proud of our roots and our colors.”

Within a few days of the news, an online petition garnered more than 4,500 signatures in favor of reversing the decision.

And it looks like the uproar had an effect. Just a few days later Xavier Cazaubon, president of FIPV, issued a statement outlining his decision to lift the ban on Bilbao immediately.

Interestingly, this statement was only released in English and Spanish, not French.

I’m glad that the ban on Bilbao was reversed fairly quickly, but it’s unfortunate the FIPV chose disciplinary action against the athlete in the first place. It just goes to show that even in 2019, there is still strong institutional pushback against the display of the Basque flag.

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