Surprise at San Mamés. Jon Rahm has performed the honorary kick-off prior to the League match that pitted his Athletic Club against Atlético de Madrid this Saturday, which started at quarter past four in the afternoon. The surprise was not so much the kick-off as the chosen attire.
Everyone expected the golfer from Barrika to take the shot at the centre of the field before the match, dressed in the Green Jacket from Augusta, which certifies him as the Masters champion, as Sergio García once did at the Santiago Bernabéu before a Clásico. However, Jon has skipped the ‘protocol’ and decided to swap the Green Jacket for the vintage shirt of José Ángel Iríbar, El Chopo.
👏🏻 Saque de honor de @JonRahmOfficial 🏌🏻
El primer embajador del #Athletic125, campeón del Masters de Augusta, ha decidido homenajear a Iribar con su camiseta al saltar a San Mamés.
🎖 Zorionak, txapelduna‼️#AthleticAtleti #Athletic125 🦁 pic.twitter.com/eLy8XiKViO
— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) December 16, 2023
The issue here is that the decision not to wear the Green Jacket was not Jon’s, but Augusta’s. All champions must inform the Masters of the events in which they want to appear with the Jacket in their championship year, and it is the Georgia club that grants or denies permission to use it. Well, Augusta has not allowed Jon to perform the kick-off at San Mamés with the Green Jacket. A very strange decision that seems inevitably linked to his recent signing for LIV Golf. In fact, he not only didn’t do the kick-off, but he didn’t even bring it to the stadium.
Faced with this situation, Rahm has chosen to make this nice nod to the historic Bilbao goalkeeper and one of the greatest legends of the Biscayan club, present during the kick-off and who also received his own tribute. The club, in the presence of numerous Athletic legends, has unveiled a statue over two metres tall of him that will forever be present on the esplanade of San Mamés that connects with Pozas street.
The statue of Iríbar and Rahm’s kick-off were the central acts of the celebration organised by Athletic on the occasion of the closing of its 125th anniversary. Similarly, the red-and-white club has named member Miguel Isasi as this year’s ambassador, who received the Athletic badge from Muniain and Iribar. All very emotional.
🧤 𝐓𝐱𝐨𝐩𝐨 𝐈𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐫, leyenda del Athletic Club.
❤️ La bienvenida soñada por cualquier hincha del Athletic.
Desde hoy, l@s athleticzales que acudan a San Mamés serán recibidos por la majestuosa estatua en homenaje a Jose Angel Iribar.#Athletic125 🦁 pic.twitter.com/9yAETusHY6
— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) December 16, 2023
They say from Bilbao that Jon, as he announced, left for his hometown after the kick-off to watch the match with his brother Eriz.
