• Opinion Spanish politics shoots at sport: without unity the Games will never return to Spain

The president of Aragon, the socialist Javier Lambán, has invited Pau Gasol to "get better information" about the 2030 Games to avoid being an "ally of independence".

"The Catalan Pau Gasol has blamed me for the failure of the 2030 Games. With the respect that this athlete deserves, he should be better informed and not assume that the COE obeys strict sports criteria. In this case, he has been an ally of independence," Lambán published on his Twitter account.

He has done so after learning that the former basketball player and member of the Athletes Commission of the International Olympic Committee has joined the argument that the joint candidacy to host the 2030 Olympic Games is withdrawn because "it has become politicized."

A few hours earlier, Pau Gasol had shown through his social networks his support for the COE and lamented "the politicization" of the candidacy.

For his part, the Aragonese president himself had previously lamented on Twitter that he was receiving "an avalanche of insults" for defending "the interests of Aragon."

"For defending the interest of Aragon, I am receiving an avalanche of insults and disqualifications from the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Alejandro Blanco, and from the independence movement. But the truth is that the Government of Aragon is the only one that sought an agreement until the last minute and will continue to do so in the face of 2034," he wrote.

Lambán, as did his Sports Minister,

Felipe Faci

, ratifies the intention of the Government of Aragon to present a "state" candidacy, "strong and unbeatable", led by Jaca to organize the Games "throughout the Pyrenees" in 2034.

Shortly after the president of the COE,

Alejandro Blanco

, announced that there will be no joint candidacy for 2030 between Aragon and Catalonia, Faci appeared at a press conference in which he stated that Aragon "will continue to fight to make the Olympic dream come true".

He pointed out that "Aragón has been working for the Olympic Games in the Pyrenees for 30 years, led by Jaca, and it does not matter if we wait four more years to prepare a good candidacy".

Jaca

has possibly been the city that has tried to organize an Olympic Games the most times, presenting a candidacy for the 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2022 Olympics, on this last occasion with the expansion of venues in Zaragoza and Barcelona.

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