Macron backs Mbappe’ after racist attack: ‘Another goal against racism’

French President Emmanuel Macron has thrown his full support behind national team captain Kylian Mbappé after the star forward was subjected to a racist tirade by a Paraguayan senator following France’s World Cup round-of-16 victory over Paraguay.

“Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time. All my support. When words defile, our values respond: dignity, respect, fraternity,” Macron wrote on X.

The controversy erupted after Saturday’s match in Philadelphia, which France won 1-0 thanks to a Mbappé penalty. Celeste Amarilla, a senator from Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party, posted a lengthy racist attack on X, describing Mbappé as a “colonised Cameroonian desperately trying to pass himself off as French” and a “brute” who had not learned to write. She also claimed France “won by a fluke” and that Mbappé was “nervous and scared to death”.

Mbappé responded with a forceful statement, calling Amarilla a “despicable woman unworthy of her position”. “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,” he wrote. “I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world”.

The Élysée Palace confirmed that the Paraguayan president had written to Macron to express support and condemn the remarks. Macron’s office stated that “the President of the Republic stands with Kylian Mbappé and the French team in the face of the racist attacks directed at the captain of Les Bleus”.

French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari also condemned the comments as “abject, disgraceful and all the more unacceptable coming from a politician”. The French Football Federation announced it would file a criminal complaint, describing the remarks as “criminal and reprehensible”.

The Paraguayan government issued a statement distancing itself from Amarilla’s remarks, saying it “deplores and rejects” them and that they do not represent the government or the Paraguayan people. FIFA President Gianni Infantino also expressed solidarity, writing that “all of football and society stand in solidarity with the France captain — we need to fight racism and defeat it together”.

Amarilla later issued an open letter in French and Spanish, saying she regretted her remarks but demanded an apology from Mbappé, accusing him of gender-based violence.