- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,195,136
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal in France's 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday in a knockout-round World Cup game in Philadelphia. (Derik Hamilton / Associated Press)
French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé took to social media Monday to respond to racist remarks a Paraguayan senator made following her country’s 1-0 loss to France in a World Cup knockout-round game over the weekend.
Mbappé called Celeste Amarilla, a 61-year-old senator from Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party, “a despicable woman and unworthy of your position.”
And he was just getting started.
“You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition,” Mbappé wrote on X. “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.
“I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”
Read more:U.S. vs. Belgium World Cup live updates: Start time, how to watch and news
The 27-year-old French captain scored the only goal of Saturday’s round-of-16 game on a penalty kick in the 70th minute. Mbappé is tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Norway’s Erling Haaland with a tournament-high seven goals. He also has 19 overall World Cup goals, one behind Messi for the all-time record.
Amarilla apparently wasn’t impressed, taking to both Instagram and X to make insensitive comments about Mbappé ‘s cultural background, appearance, education and more. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.
The Paraguayan government said in a statement Monday that it “deplores and rejects” the senator’s remarks.
Read more:FIFA appeal committee rejects Belgium appeal, allowing Folarin Balogun to play
“These statements are contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity, which our country promotes,” it said, adding that Amarilla’s words “in no way represent the position of the Government of the Republic of Paraguay or of the Paraguayan people.”
The French Football Federation said in a statement that Amarilla’s comments were racist, as well as “utterly despicable and unacceptable” and “criminal and reprehensible.”
“These remarks are abhorrent, unworthy, and all the more unacceptable given that they come from a political figure. In the face of racism, we will not remain silent,” France’s sports minister Marina Ferrari wrote on X. “By targeting Kylian Mbappé, the senator is attacking everything our captain embodies and everything our country stands for: liberty, equality, and fraternity.”
France plays Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinals Thursday in Foxborough, Mass.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading...
