Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Paraguay senator Celeste Amarilla has demanded a public apology from France captain Kylian Mbappe and warned she could pursue legal action after the footballer called her “a despicable woman” in response to racist remarks she made following Paraguay’s FIFA World Cup exit. In a lengthy statement, Amarilla said she had deleted her offensive post after regretting its language but insisted Mbappe must also retract his comments and apologise.
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The latest exchange marks a dramatic escalation in the fallout from France’s Round of 16 victory over Paraguay, with the social media spat now evolving into threats of legal action and accusations of gender-based political violence.
“The problem is between you and me. I’ve never said anything against France; on the contrary, I’m with you. I studied at a French school from the age of two until I was seventeen… I speak French and I love visiting France. It has nothing to do with France; the problem is with you,” Amarilla wrote.
She also accused Mbappe of showing “arrogance and contempt” before, during and after the match, claiming his behaviour towards Paraguayan players and the team’s goalkeeper “hurt my entire country.”
The senator acknowledged that her original post was unacceptable and said she deleted it after reflecting on her words.
“I regretted mistreating you with the same insults I receive, because I too am despised for being mixed-race and Latina… I realized I was repeating patterns I hate, and I deleted the post,” she wrote. However, Amarilla added: “Now, I demand that you also retract your statement and apologize to me. I, too, will not tolerate your violence.”
The dispute began after Amarilla reacted to France’s World Cup win by posting racist comments targeting Mbappe’s race, nationality and appearance. She referred to the France captain as a “colonised Cameroonian” who was “pretending hard to be French” and claimed France had won “by a fluke.”
Mbappe responded by describing Amarilla as “a despicable woman” who was “unworthy” of serving in Paraguay’s Congress, prompting the senator’s latest response.
AMARILLA ACUSSES MBAPPE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
In the latter half of her statement, Amarilla defended her democratic mandate, arguing that Mbappe had no right to question her fitness for public office. She stressed that she had been elected by the Paraguayan people and said his remarks amounted to an attack on both her position and her gender.
“Who are you to call me unworthy or despicable when you don’t even know me? Pure and simple gender violence! Political violence against a woman who got where she is with the popular vote of her people. You despise me precisely because of my gender; you offend me precisely because I am a woman,” Amarilla wrote.
She concluded by urging Mbappe to “honor hisFrench citizenship” by apologising and retracting his remarks, warning that she could pursue legal action for what she described as gender-based political violence if he failed to do so. Mbappe has not publicly responded to her latest statement.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
