Paraguayan senator threatens Mbappé with legal action for 'gender violence' after his response

Three days after France’s 1-0 World Cup victory over Paraguay, the row between Kylian Mbappé and Paraguayan senator Celeste Senadora has escalated. After facing a racist attack from the elected official, the French striker responded publicly; she hit back on Monday with an open letter in which she threatens him with legal action for ‘gender violence’.

The affair had already reached the highest diplomatic levels: Paraguay’s president and the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry had distanced themselves from the senator. Mbappé, for his part, did not mince his words. “You are a despicable woman unworthy of your office,” he wrote. “Through your recklessness and your unbridled racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and historic effort your players made during this World Cup, only to be overshadowed by an incompetent woman giving the worst possible image of her country.”

Celeste Senadora chose not to let the matter rest. In her open letter, she begins by affirming her attachment to France — she says she was educated there from ages 2 to 17 at a French secondary school and regularly spends holidays there — before attacking the player directly. She notably criticizes his pre-match statements deemed contemptuous toward the Paraguayan team, his behavior on the pitch, and the fact that he did not shake hands with the opposing goalkeeper after the final whistle.

“Nothing to do with France, the problem is with you. Your arrogance and your contempt really annoy me,” she writes, before describing Mbappé’s response as “pure and simple gender violence” and announcing she is considering legal proceedings on that basis.

The Real Madrid striker has not yet responded publicly to this latest outburst from the senator.