Jamal is threatened with legal action for hiring people with dwarfism for a party

A Spanish disability group has threatened to take legal action after people with dwarfism were allegedly hired as entertainers for Barcelona footballer Lamine Jamal's 18th birthday party.

The Barcelona and Spanish national team winger hosted a big celebration on Saturday, attended by teammates, celebrities, musicians, YouTubers and influencers.

According to local reports and footage from social media, a large number of people with dwarfism also attended the celebration to entertain guests.

The Spanish Association of People with Achondroplasia and Other Skeletal Dysplasias (ADEE) said the incident violated the country's disability rights law, adding that it would take legal action.

"It is unacceptable that in the 21st century, people with dwarfism are still used for entertainment at private parties, especially when it comes to public figures. The dignity and rights of our community cannot be a source of entertainment under any circumstances," said ADEE president Karolina Puente, reported Sky.

The Director General for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Spanish Ministry of Social Rights, Jesús Martin Blanco, also called for an investigation.

He told the Spanish news agency EFE that he was concerned that "a man who has so many followers, an influential man for young people, is organizing this kind of celebration that could have consequences for young people."

"The law is the same for everyone, both for the humble and the powerful," he added.

Catalan radio station RAC1 said on Monday that it had interviewed one of the dwarfs hired for the celebration, who told the broadcaster that she was simply asking to be allowed to work.

"We're just asking to be allowed to work. We have our contracts, we're normal people, self-employed and we do everything legally. I don't know why there's so much noise now. What the association (ADEE) is currently doing is discrediting our work as professionals. We do this job because we want to. Nobody is forcing us," she said.