Spain captain Ivana Andres has apologised to the Maori people of New Zealand, following an insensitive imitation of the haka.
The Spanish Federation posted a video of four members of the Spain side doing an impression of the haka ahead of the World Cup, which is taking place in New Zealand. The haka is a traditional dance of the native Maori people, often performed ahead of sporting events.
The video created fury from the Maori population in New Zealand, who deemed it disrespectful.
4 players from the Spanish women's team mocks the New Zealand Māori haka during training and the official website of Spain (@SEFutbolFem) publishes it, creating a wave of indignation among the 15% of the population of Māori origin, 4.5M people.
What a great lack of respect. 🤦 pic.twitter.com/9sUD3mgzbu
— 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳.🧣 (@__JacobTaylor) July 15, 2023
Spain since deleted the video, and Real Madrid captain Andres apologised on behalf of her teammates Jenni Hermoso, Laia Codina, Salma Paralluelo and Misa Rodriguez, as per Relevo.
“We’ve only been in New Zealand for a few days and we still have a lot to learn about your culture.”
They attended a celebration of the beginning of the new year called the Matariki in Maori, where Andres presented them with a Spanish shirt, and again apologised for the insensitivity. They were welcomed by the Maori, who performed a real haka for them too.
“On behalf of the Spanish National Team, I want to show our gratitude for this wonderful welcoming act and for sharing with us your possible resources and the hospitality that we are enjoying here […] We also face this Matariki with renewed spirits, eager, to learn, to enjoy, to share, to achieve success for our successes, and to apologise for our mistakes in order to be a little better every day.”
Spain face Costa Rica in their first group game this Friday, with Japan and Zambia to come in their group. La Roja will be hoping to delve into the latter stages of the competition under controversial manager Jorge Vilda.
