Paraguayan senator threatens Mbappé with legal action after he condemned her racist remarks

Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla has threatened Kylian Mbappé with legal action and demanded he retract his public criticism of her, days after she posted a series of racist comments targeting the France captain following his penalty against Paraguay.

Amarilla, a member of Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party, sparked the controversy when she attacked Mbappé’s origins, upbringing, education and appearance on social media. Mbappé responded sharply, writing: “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.”

In an open letter, Amarilla acknowledged deleting her original post and expressed regret for mistreating Mbappé with “the same insults” she said she had received as a mixed-race person. However, she stopped short of a full apology, instead accusing Mbappé of gender-based violence for his choice of language and demanding he withdraw his comments. “Retract your statements, honour your French citizenship, and apologise,” she wrote. “Otherwise, I may begin legal proceedings for gender-based violence.”

The French Football Federation condemned Amarilla’s original remarks in the strongest terms, describing them as “utterly abhorrent and unacceptable” and announcing it had referred the matter to the public prosecutor’s office with a view to its own legal proceedings. “The racist remarks made by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla targeting Kylian Mbappé are criminal and deserve condemnation,” the FFF said in a statement. “They must be prosecuted, here and elsewhere. The Federation offers its full support to its captain, its players and, more broadly, to all victims of such hateful remarks.”

The FFF added that the comments brought “shame on those who make them and those who spread them”, and reaffirmed its commitment to fighting racism and all forms of discrimination.