Politics
Paraguayan senator’s ‘brazen racism’ against Mbappé sparks anger in France
France united behind Kylian Mbappé on Monday after Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla aimed a volley of abuse at the French striker.
Amarilla, a senator with the centrist Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), published the posts a day after Paraguay’s elimination to France in a tense round-of-16 World Cup match. She referred to Mbappé as a “brute,” mocked his intelligence and questioned his French identity, describing him as a “colonized Cameroonian pretending to be French.”
French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari called the remarks “abhorrent” and “all the more unacceptable” because they came from an elected official. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said that he was “deeply shocked,” writing on X that “the France team looks like France, and Kylian Mbappé is one of the greatest representatives of our country.”
The abuse directed at Mbappé taps into a decades-old fault line in French public life. France’s national soccer team has long symbolized the country’s ethnic and racial diversity, with many of its biggest stars — including Mbappé, whose father is from Cameroon and mother is of Algerian descent — coming from immigrant backgrounds. The team’s multicultural makeup has repeatedly become a proxy for broader debates over French identity and immigration particularly after major tournaments.
While victories have often been celebrated as proof of an inclusive country — as with the celebrated 1998 Black-Blanc-Beur World Cup-winning side — defeats have occasionally revived racist attacks and questions over whether non-white players are “truly” French.
French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad also condemned what he called Amarilla’s “unacceptable racist remarks,” saying there could be no tolerance for hatred masquerading as political speech.
Mbappé himself lambasted Amarilla. “You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position,” he wrote on X late Monday. “You do not represent Paraguay.” He accused the senator of allowing “brazen racism” to overshadow Paraguay’s historic World Cup run and vowed never to let “people like her” spread hatred unchecked. Blue Light News has contacted Amarilla for comment.
The French Football Federation announced Monday it would file a criminal complaint. “The racist comments made by Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla toward Kylian Mbappé are utterly vile and unacceptable,” the federation said in a statement. “These statements are criminal and condemnable. They must be prosecuted here and everywhere.”