Ex-Man United star blasts TikTokers at matches – ‘that’s not the essence of soccer’
Ander Herrera joins the voices of fans unhappy with influencers attending football matches in replica shirts of one team, then wear the shirt of a fierce rival
Marina Rivers wears a Real Madrid shirt for a trip to the Bernabeu Stadium with Lola Lolita(Image: https://www.instagram.com/_riverss_/)
A former Manchester United star has slammed the growing number of TikTokers in stadiums – and no it is not Roy Keane reprising his attack on “the prawn sandwich brigade” at Old Trafford.
Ander Herrera, who currently plays for Diego Maradona’s boyhood club Boca Juniors in Argentina, did not hold back as he hit out at TikTokers and influencers who he believes are guilty of disrespecting the ‘essence’ of football.
Herrera used the example of a recent game at Real Madrid, a club which draws in its fair share of young fans in tight replica shirts more interested in taking selfies than supporting the teams on the pitch, for his outburst.
He did not name any names, but the likes of Marina Rivers and Laura Lolita have fuelled the controversy in Spain while clocking up more than 7.9 million followers.
Rivers was spotted at the Bernabeu with Lolita for a La Liga match last month, where she wore a Real Madrid kit but has also been seen wearing the red and white stripes of city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Herrera grew up watching football in grounds where kids would watch with their grandparents and singing their hearts out for 90 minutes.
He told Spanish YouTube channel El Boro: “The other day I saw TikTokers, influencers at the Bernabeu. With all due respect to everyone, but for me, that’s not the essence of football.
“Everyone has the right to go to the stadium, but allow me to prefer the other way.
“I like it when a grandfather goes with his grandson, and they’re both singing in the stands, standing up.”
To that extent Herrara is spoilt at Boca Juniors, where the atmosphere for home games at La Bombonera physically causes the stadium to tremble.
The Spanish ace, who began his career at Zaragoza and also went on to play for Athletic Bilbao and Paris Saint-Germain, is in his second season in Argentina.
He added: “Besides being a footballer, I’m a huge football fan. I grew up that way, and that’s how I like football. The experience at Boca Juniors is something unique, and I’ll carry it with me for the rest of my life.”
