Overview
- France beat Paraguay 1-0 in a heated World Cup last-16 match on Saturday that included a post-match confrontation between Kylian Mbappé and Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
- Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla posted a series of explicitly racist messages on social media attacking Mbappé’s background and encouraging offensive gestures after the game.
- Mbappé publicly called Amarilla “a despicable woman and unworthy of her position” in a response published on Monday that defended Paraguay’s players and challenged the senator’s remarks.
- The French Football Federation has reported Amarilla’s posts to the public prosecutor’s office with a view to criminal proceedings and top French officials have denounced the abuse.
- Paraguay’s government and congressional leaders have disavowed Amarilla’s comments while coverage places the episode in a wider pattern of racist backlash directed at France’s multiethnic national team.