São Paulo, Brazil — French national team player Kylian Mbappé this week publicly condemned comments made about him by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla.
On social media, Amarilla—a member of the opposition to President Santiago Peña’s government—wrote: “A brute; he hasn’t even learned to write. Instead of breast milk, he suckled on coconuts, and the most cultured beings he ever heard were chimpanzees. You should have given him the finger, Orlando Gill—I do that in the Senate and nothing happens!!!”
The senator’s remarks in Spanish followed a match between the two countries. France eliminated Paraguay from the World Cup last Saturday with a lone goal scored by Mbappé in the 70th minute.
Amarilla commented a post by the publication “Diário Olé”, which claimed the French striker had refused to shake hands with Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill after the match. In another post, the senator called the French player “colonized,” ugly, and resentful.
In response, Mbappé called the politician a “despicable woman, unworthy of her office,” stating that she did not represent Paraguay.
He added that, “due to her lack of common sense and her blatant racism,” the world would now forget the historic journey and effort of the Paraguayan players at the World Cup, making way instead “for an incompetent woman who projects the worst possible image of her country.”
A photo of the senator was attached to the post, which had reached 87 million views by the time this article was published.
Following the public response from Mbappé—who has at least 20 million followers on X alone—Senator Amarilla published a letter in French addressed to the Real Madrid star. She stated that she wrote the post while furious and demanded that Mbappé retract his comments and apologize to her as well.
The Paraguayan government, for its part, condemned the posts made by Amarilla and stated that her comments do not represent the country.
The French Football Federation, in addition to condemning the statements, announced that it would take legal action by referring the matter to the public prosecutor’s office.
The reaction also prompted a comment from French President Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated Mbappé on the initiative and for “scoring another goal against racism.”
A French and global football superstar, Kylian Mbappé is competing in his third World Cup.
In 2018, making his tournament debut, he won the world title under manager Didier Deschamps against Croatia.
He also reached the World Cup final in 2022, but France lost the title to Argentina on penalties following a 3–3 draw—with all three of France’s goals scored by Mbappé.
Featured image of Kylian Mbappé and Celeste Amarilla
Image credit: Kylian Mbappé and Celeste Amarilla via X.