Kylian Mbappe has hit back at the Paraguayan senator who sparked a racism row after France's World Cup win, branding her "despicable" and "unworthy" of her position. The France forward scored the only goal in Les Bleus' 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the last 16 on Saturday, setting up a quarter-final against Morocco in Boston on Thursday. But the fallout from the ill-tempered encounter has continued, with Celeste Amarilla, a senator of Paraguay's Liberal Radical Party, launching a vile tirade on social media aiming vitriolic abuse towards Mbappe with foul language and racial undertones.
Mbappe responded on X: "Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honour throughout the competition. 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."
“France forward Kylian Mbappe condemns Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla as 'despicable' after racist posts mocking his origin and education.”
Amarilla's comments follow those of former Paraguay goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, who said in the build-up to the match his national side were facing "a squad from Africa". Those remarks drew a response from French football federation president Philippe Diallo, who called Chilavert a "disgrace" and said: "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the racist remarks made by Jose Luis Chilavert against the French national team, which undermine the values of respect, fraternity, and diversity in our football. If he was once a great goalkeeper, this man has now fallen into disgrace."
The French Football Federation also condemned Amarilla's comments, describing them as "utterly abhorrent and unacceptable" and said they would refer them to the public prosecutor's office with a view to legal proceedings. In a tweet, they said: "The racist remarks made by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla targeting Kylian Mbappé are utterly abhorrent and unacceptable. How can anyone make such comments? These remarks are criminal and deserve condemnation. They must be prosecuted, here and elsewhere. The FFF is referring the matter to the public prosecutor's office with a view to legal proceedings. The Federation offers its full support to its captain, its players and, more broadly, to all victims of such hateful remarks."
Mbappe, who has scored seven goals in the tournament and is joint top-scorer with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, will now focus on the quarter-final against Morocco. The ill-tempered round of 16 game saw Didier Deschamps' side scrape through an ugly encounter which saw the Paraguayans miraculously escape without a yellow card despite some senseless challenges on the World Cup favourites.