PARAGUAYAN SENATOR LAUNCHES FRESH ATTACK ON MBAPPE AS RACIST ROW ESCALATES

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By ‘Sefiu Ajape

Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla has renewed her attacks on France captain Kylian Mbappe despite being condemned over remarks widely criticised as racist following France’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16.

Amarilla had earlier sparked outrage after making offensive comments about the Real Madrid forward on social media, prompting Mbappe, with the backing of the French Football Federation (FFF), to describe her as “despicable” and accuse her of “spreading hatred and racism.”

However, speaking during a Senate session in Paraguay, Amarilla defended her criticism of the French captain, accusing him of disrespecting Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill after the match.

“When Orlando Gill, a young man who was probably setting foot in the World Cup for the first time, who was probably discovering Europe for the first time, was playing in front of the whole world and extended his hand with all the humility of a Paraguayan, this son of a bitch refused to shake his hand and shouted in his face,” she declared.

“That is not French. A Frenchman would never have done that. France is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, René Descartes, Montesquieu, Victor Hugo, Simone de Beauvoir, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

“I refuse to reduce all of this immense France, as well as its immense cultural, artistic and democratic heritage, to Mbappe.”

Amarilla also repeated comments she had made on X after the match, writing, “This brute hasn’t even learned to write,” before posting, “You should’ve shown him the finger, Orlando Gill; I do it in the Senate and nothing happens!!!”

In another post, she described Mbappe as “pretending hard to be French, resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly,” adding: “He was nervous and scared to death the whole match, like his entire team; they couldn’t even score a goal, they won by a fluke…

“The only thing many of us demanded of the Albirroja is not to have slapped him open-handed after the match ended. And that’s despite not being a soccer fan.”

Responding on X, Mbappe wrote: “Madame Celeste Amarilla, You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. 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.

“I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”

FFF president Philippe Diallo also backed the France captain, saying: “The racist remarks by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla targeting Kylian Mbappe are criminal and reprehensible.

“They must be prosecuted here as elsewhere. The FFF is filing a report with the prosecutor’s office for the purpose of judicial proceedings.

“I offer my full support to our captain, to the players, and more generally to all the victims of such odious remarks. The players of the French national team represent France; it is our country that is insulted.”

The controversy followed a heated Round of 16 encounter in which Paraguay’s players were criticised for their physical approach, while goalkeeper Orlando Gill accused Mbappe of refusing to shake his hand after the final whistle.

Speaking after the match, Gill said, “Kylian Mbappe has p***ed me off. I stretched my hand to congratulate him, but he ignored me.

“This is football; if they’re not used to this, what can we do? Paraguay is like that; it’s a tough team.

“From the first moment we set out to make ourselves felt on the field, that if the ball gets through, the man doesn’t.”

Mbappe, meanwhile, insisted France were prepared to adapt to any style of football in pursuit of World Cup success.

“We knew what kind of game we were going to have. We showed that we were not just a team that knows how to play offensive football,” he said.

“They thought we’d come wearing tuxedos, doing great plays, one-twos, and whatnot. It’s their way of playing.”