‘Despicable’: Macron backs Mbappé after French football captain condemns racism

London: French football captain Kylian Mbappé has sparked a political storm over racism by condemning a Paraguayan senator as “despicable” for her remarks about him following France’s World Cup round-of-16 victory over Paraguay.

French President Emmanuel Macron backed Mbappé, one of the star players in the global championship, as the dispute fuelled a debate about race and the rise of the far right in Europe.

Mbappé reached millions of people on social media with his condemnation of Celeste Amarilla, a senator from Paraguay’s Authentic Radical Liberal Party, after she posted a series of comments that mocked his African origins, education and appearance.

“You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position,” he responded on X.

“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.”

The clash mixed sport and politics for another day of the World Cup after US President Donald Trump drew criticism for lobbying FIFA to lift the suspension of US forward Folarin Balogun so he could play against Belgium.

The move appeared to backfire as Belgium ran out 4-1 winners in the round-of-16 encounter in Seattle on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

The government of Paraguay said it “deplores and rejects” Amarilla’s statements, calling them contrary to the values of peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity.

In her post, Amarilla had described Mbappé as a “colonised Cameroonian” who was “resentful, newly rich, arrogant and ugly”.

She deleted the post after the furious reaction, but criticised the football captain for his remarks.

“Who are you to call me unworthy or despicable if you don’t even know me? This is pure and simple gender violence,” she posted. She said she might initiate legal action for gender-based violence.

But the greatest political reaction came in France, where concerns about migration have fuelled the rise of the far right in a trend that will shape next year’s presidential election to choose a successor to Macron.

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen is waiting on an appeals court decision in Paris (late on Tuesday AEST) to learn whether she will be able to contest the presidential election despite a previous conviction over political donations.

Macron backed Mbappé in a pointed reference to French values.

“Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time,” the French president said.

“All my support. When words defile, our values respond: dignity, respect, fraternity.”

French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari also backed the team captain.

“By targeting Kylian Mbappé, the senator is attacking everything our captain embodies and everything our country stands for: liberty, equality and fraternity,” Ferrari wrote on X.

Migration and race have emerged as potent issues in French politics, as in other countries in Europe as some voters turn to the right-wing National Rally because it promises stronger borders.

National Rally president Jordan Bardella, seen as the party’s likely presidential candidate if Le Pen is disqualified, has promised to turn migrants away.

“If tomorrow I am the head of government, France will no longer be the target of mass immigration,” he said to the BBC last year.

Mbappé, who is lionised in France for his success as the nation’s team captain, has repeatedly clashed with National Rally and urged voters not to move to what he regards as the “extreme” side of politics.

“Extremists stand at the gates of power. We have a chance to decide the future of our country,” he said two years ago.

Mbappé stood by those comments in a cover feature in Vanity Fair magazine last month, warning against the right-wing party.

“People sometimes think that because you have money, because you’re famous, that kind of problem doesn’t affect you,” he told the magazine.

“But it affects me, because I know what it means, and what kind of consequences it can have for my country when those kinds of people take control.”

In the dispute with the Paraguayan senator, National Rally sided with the French champion.
Bardella retweeted Mbappé’s post about the “despicable” senator.

One of Amarilla’s earlier posts, which mocked Mbappé’s education using racist tropes, remained online on Tuesday.

The French Football Federation denounced Amarilla’s comments as “utterly abhorrent” and “unacceptable”.

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