Despite the controversy generated on social networks when announcing the Athletic that would honor Martín Zabaleta, the mountaineer who crowned Everest with an ikurriña with the ETA logohas finally carried it out and San Mamés has applauded the mountaineer.
Before the start of the duel against Espanyol, the mountaineer Martín Zabaleta and the Nepalese Sherpa Pasang Temba They have taken the honor kick-off, as announced by Athletic Club in the previous days.
Accompanied by the legend José Ángel Iribar and by the also mountaineer Álex Txikon, The two mountaineers were honored on the field and applauded by the Basque fans. The moment has been censored by the television broadcast, which has not focused on what was happening at that moment on the field of play.
Zabaleta was the first Spanish mountaineer to reach the summit of Everest. He did it on May 14, 1980 with his ikurriña, already legalized at that time. However, It included the ETA logoa detail that many people have not forgotten more than 40 years later.
With this event before the match against Espanyol, the Bilbao club wanted to pay tribute to “the heroes who took the ikurriña to the top of the world” taking advantage of the fact that both protagonists are in Bilbao on the occasion of the centenary of the Basque-Navarra Mountaineering Federation.
