The FIFA World Cup drama isn’t over. A Paraguayan senator has sparked a huge controversy by racially abusing French captain Kylian Mbappe after her country’s loss. Now, she’s threatening to sue him.
NEW YORK: The war of words between French football captain Kylian Mbappe and Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla is getting uglier. The whole thing kicked off after France knocked Paraguay out of the World Cup pre-quarterfinals with a 1-0 win. After the defeat, Senator Amarilla went on a tirade against Mbappé on her X account.
She called him a “colonized Cameroonian” who was “struggling to pretend to be French,” and also labelled him “arrogant, money-grubbing, and ugly.” This racist attack caused a massive uproar, with Mbappé and French fans hitting back hard. The backlash was so strong that even French President Emmanuel Macron jumped in to support his captain, praising him for standing up to racism.
Under pressure, the senator deleted her original racist post. But instead of apologising, she came back with an open letter to Mbappé. Her new threat? She demanded that Mbappé apologise to her, or she would take “severe legal action. The problem is between you and me, I have no animosity towards France. I reacted because your arrogance was excessive before and after the match,” she wrote.
She accused Mbappe of using “the worst Latin American profanity” against their players on the field. She also claimed he refused to shake hands with their goalkeeper after the win. “I am a senator elected by the people of Paraguay. You know nothing about me. If you don’t apologize, I will take legal action against you for violence against a woman,” the senator threatened.
The France-Paraguay pre-quarterfinal match was already in the news for its rough fouls and on-field arguments. The Paraguayan team alleges that Mbappé tried to paint them as the bad guys throughout the game and even mocked their goalkeeper after the win.
In her letter, the senator claims she deleted the old post because she herself faces racist abuse. However, the football world has strongly condemned the racist attack on the French captain on a World Cup stage.