In Seville, football is lived with feverish, almost feverish passion. Andalusia is one of the communities that contributes the most teams to LaLiga EA Sports, LaLiga Hypermotion and even big names in Primera RFEF like Málaga. However, in the capital there are two names that take all the laurels: Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla Fútbol Club, both with a fiery rivalry that has experienced a new chapter in the least expected way.
It all happened this past Wednesday, when the Triana neighborhood club presented a floral offering to the members of the Macarena Brotherhood, a tradition that they fulfill every season. Together with the president of the club, Ángel Haro, an extensive expedition, which included the entire first team squad, approached the Basilica of Santa María de la Esperanza Macarena. However, it was the words of the Big Brother, José Antonio Fernández Cabrero, that went viral.
“The most important thing is to point out to you what we share. We are two corporations that are the first and the third in the city. Betis is the first corporation in the city, then there is another and then there is the Macarena brotherhood. The brotherhood of Macarena and Real Betis Balompié have 554 years of history. But they share very important things. Who doesn’t know about the universality of Betis? And who doesn’t know that Macarena has 17,000 brothers and is present in 117 countries around the world,” he commented.
These statements have caused a real stir in the Nervión neighborhood, as well as in other areas of red fans in the city. Fernández Cabrero, after finishing his speech, tried to qualify his words to reduce possible tensions: “Having responded to the request of Real Betis Balompié to be with us in the basilica gives us the same satisfaction as if we had received it from Sevilla Fútbol Club, which is so connection it has with the Brotherhood.”
In Everything is a Lie, Risto Mejide’s program on Cuatro, the former president of the Andalusian PSOE, Susana Díaz, stated that the older brother “came down like the good Betic that he was.” The president of the Peña Sevillista de la Macarena, Paco Romero, highlighted that “at first it was a bit of a shock” and that the name of the club was placed before that of the Brotherhood, but he considered that it was a lapse. In his words, the fact that they were called “the other” did not sit well because they were named in a Betic ceremony.
The commotion has also spread on social networks, with the matter leaving thousands of comments and reactions from Betic and Red fans. “If I had put the other institution in the city first, it would have to seem good to you because it would be Sevillian, but this is not because potatoes,” one user dropped. “Nice way to despise Sevilla FC, the brotherhoods of Gran Poder y Esperanza de Triana… This guy is VERY DUMB!”, pointed out another.
