The team captain of France’s national soccer team, Kylian Mbappé, has called out a Paraguayan senator after she made racist comments about the soccer star.
“Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position,” Mbappé wrote on X, originally in French. “You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition.”
The comments came on the heels of France’s 1-0 win against Paraguay.
“Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup, making way for an incompetent woman who gives the worst possible image of her country,” she continued. “I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”
Amarilla directed racist comments toward Mbappé after a viral post appeared to show that the player denied a handshake to Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who later threw a soccer ball at Mbappé’s back.
Gill later admitted that he “lost his temper” in the moment.
“This brute didn’t even learn to write; instead of mother’s milk, he sucked on coconuts, and the most educated thing he heard were chimpanzees,” Amarilla wrote, originally in Spanish. “You should’ve shown him the finger, Orlando Gill; I do it in the senate and nothing happens!!!”
The French Football Federation (FFF) also called out Amarilla’s comments.
“The racist comments made by Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla toward Kylian Mbappé are utterly vile and unacceptable. How can anyone utter such words?” the federation wrote in a statement. “These statements are criminal and condemnable. They must be prosecuted here and everywhere. The FFF is filing a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the purpose of judicial proceedings.”
