The repercussion of the racist comments made by Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla against Kylian Mbappé will not compromise the French team forward’s performance in the World Cup. The guarantee came from coach Didier Deschamps, who stated in a press conference this Wednesday that the player does not seem shaken, at a crucial moment before the quarter-finals against Morocco.
The coach emphasized the star’s mental condition, describing him as “very well mentally” and “a very strong boy physically and mentally”. Deschamps also highlighted the importance of the next challenge: “Tomorrow we will have a very tough game, against a very quality team. There is only one place in the final, and he is ready.” This declaration aims to shield the athlete and the team from external pressure, ensuring total focus on the decisive match that is worth a place in the final of the tournament, after the expressions of rejection from French authorities and the Football Federation.
Mbappé himself had already spoken publicly about the matter two days ago.
Through his social networks, the French star used strong words to counter the insults. He classified the senator as a “despicable woman and unworthy of her role”, criticized her “uncomplex racism” and stated that he would not allow “people like her to have the freedom to propagate their hatred and racism throughout the world”, highlighting the negative impact of such statements.
Last Monday, French authorities became officially aware of Celeste Amarilla’s discriminatory comments against Mbappé, and promptly denounced them. Marina Ferrari, the European country’s Sports Minister, expressed her outrage at what happened and offered full support to the attacker.
The Paraguayan senator’s controversial statements appeared the previous Saturday, shortly after the French team’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay, in a game where Mbappé scored the decisive goal that guaranteed France in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
On her official account on platform X (formerly Twitter), Celeste Amarilla made a series of personal attacks. She wrote that Mbappé was “brutal and didn’t even learn to write” and that “instead of breast milk, he sucked coconuts, and the most educated thing he heard were chimpanzees”, referring to Paraguay’s defeat by France.
In another part of the publication, Amarilla continued the insults, calling the player a “colonized Cameroonian, acting tough to appear French, resentful, nouveau riche, arrogant and ugly.” The Paraguayan senator even expressed the wish that the Paraguayan team had “given him an open hand slap after the match ended”, a comment widely repudiated.
In an official statement, French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari reiterated her condemnation of the attacks. She declared that she was “absolutely outraged” and that “France strongly condemns the racist attacks on Kylian Mbappé.” Ferrari reinforced that “these statements are abominable, shameful and even more unacceptable coming from a political figure”, guaranteeing that the country will not be “silent in the face of racism”, and that “by attacking Mbappé, the senator is attacking everything that our captain represents and everything that our country stands for: freedom, equality and fraternity”.
The French Football Federation (FFF) also spoke out, describing the Paraguayan senator’s statements as “disgusting and unacceptable” and announcing that it had contacted the Public Prosecutor’s Office to take the necessary legal measures. The entity emphasized that “these statements are criminal and reprehensible” and that “they must be prosecuted here as anywhere else.” The FFF offered “its full support to its captain, its players and, more broadly, to all the victims of such hateful statements”, concluding that “the players of the French National Team represent France, it is our country that is being insulted”.
