The French Football Federation (FFF) denounced Monday July 6 “abject and unacceptable” remarks after the racist statements made by a Paraguayan senator against Kylian Mbappé following Paraguay’s defeat (1-0) against France in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. For his part, Blues captain Kylian deemed the Paraguayan senator “despicable” and “unworthy of her position”.
“This idiot hasn’t even learned to write.” Instead of sucking breast milk, he suckled coconuts, and the most educated beings he ever heard of were chimpanzees. You should have given him the finger, Orlando Gill (the Paraguay goalkeeper, Editor’s note). I do it in the Senate and nothing happens,” Sen. Celeste Amarilla wrote on X.
“A Cameroonian from colonization, desperately trying to pass as a Frenchman, resentful, nouveau riche, arrogant and ugly. He was nervous and scared to death throughout the match, like his entire team; They didn’t even manage to score a goal, they won thanks to a stroke of luck…”, she wrote in another publication still on X.
Words which made the main person concerned react. “Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of her position,” declared the captain of the French team in a message on X. “You do not represent Paraguay, this country which exuded passion and honor throughout the competition. Through your unconsciousness and your uninhibited racism, the whole world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players made during this World Cup to make way for an incompetent lady giving the worst possible image of her country. »
Madame Celeste Amarilla,
You are a despicable woman and unworthy of her position.
You do not represent Paraguay, this country which exuded passion and honor throughout the competition. Through your unconsciousness and your uninhibited racism, the whole world has already… pic.twitter.com/EnYmgQXvPL
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) July 6, 2026
I manage my choices I authorize
“I will never give people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism throughout the world,” he added.
Report to the FFF prosecutor’s office
French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari, for her part, expressed her support for the French striker. “I am absolutely scandalized by the comments of Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla. France condemns in the strongest terms the racist attacks of which Kylian Mbappé was the target,” reacted Marina Ferrari in a statement sent to the press.
“These comments are despicable, unworthy and all the more unacceptable as they come from a political leader. In the face of racism, we will not remain silent. By attacking Kylian Mbappé, the senator is attacking everything that our captain embodies and everything that our country defends: freedom, equality and fraternity,” believes the Minister of Sports. She says she provides “all (her) support to our captain, our coach and the entire French team”.
As for the French Football Federation, it denounced “racist remarks (…) totally abject and unacceptable”. In her press release, she added that she would “report to the public prosecutor’s office for the purposes of legal proceedings”.
On Saturday, a penalty from Kylian Mbappé delivered the French team and sealed the qualification of the Blues for the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, at the end of an unbreathable game against the very rough defense of Paraguay. The leniency of the Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev, considered permissive in the face of the numerous acts of anti-play by the South Americans, was at the heart of the debates.
