Mbappe brands Paraguayan senator 'despicable' after racist attack as France FA files criminal complaint

Kylian Mbappe has publicly denounced Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla as a “despicable woman” after she published a racist attack on him following France’s 1-0 World Cup victory over Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday. The French Football Federation (FFF) has since announced it will file a criminal complaint against the senator.

Amarilla took to X after Mbappe’s penalty sealed France’s passage into the quarter-finals, describing the France captain as a “colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French” and a “brute” who had not learned to write. She also suggested Paraguay’s players should have physically assaulted him after the match.

Mbappe responded with a lengthy statement in which he defended both himself and the Paraguayan players, directing his anger squarely at Amarilla. “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,” he wrote.

“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.”

The FFF described Amarilla’s remarks as “utterly abhorrent and unacceptable” and confirmed it is reporting the matter to the public prosecutor’s office. “These remarks are criminal and reprehensible,” the federation’s statement read. “They must be prosecuted here as elsewhere. The players of the French national team represent France; it is our country that is being insulted.”

The condemnation extended beyond France. The Paraguayan government stated it “deplores and rejects” Amarilla’s comments, clarifying they are “contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity” and “in no way represent the position of the Government of the Republic of Paraguay or the Paraguayan people.”

French president Emmanuel Macron’s office confirmed that the Paraguayan president had written to him personally to express support and condemn the remarks. Basilio Nunez, the leader of the Paraguayan legislature, also echoed that condemnation.