What did a Paraguayan senator say about Kylian Mbappé? What to know.
Already one of the biggest stars in world football ahead of this summer’s World Cup, France forward and captain Kylian Mbappé has only further raised his already lofty stature as he looks to help guide Les Bleus to a third straight World Cup final.
The Golden Boot winner in Qatar in 2022, Mbappé is in a position to finish as the tournament’s top scorer once again, tied for second with Norway‘s Erling Haaland with seven, just a goal behind the now all-time leading World Cup goal scorer, Argentina‘s Lionel Messi. Mbappé trails Messi by two goals (21 to 19) in the all-time World Cup scoring chart, and as a 27-year-old, looks to be in pole position to eventually surpass the widely-considered GOAT.
Mbappé added another goal to his total in his last match, scoring from the penalty spot in the 70th minute to help Les Bleus score a tense 1-0 Round of 16 win on Saturday, July 4 over a tough Paraguay squad which itself upset Germany at Boston Stadium (Gillette Stadium) in the Round of 32. With the win, France returns to Foxborough for a second time this tournament (and third time this year) to take on Morocco at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 9 in a quarterfinal showdown. Les Bleus have also been based in Boston this summer, staying in the city while training at Bentley University in Waltham.
As joyous as the moment should be for Mbappé, the Real Madrid man found himself on the receiving end of racial abuse from Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla on Saturday, July 4, prompting a response from himself as well as politicians from both nations and even the United Nations Humans Rights spokesperson. Here’s what to know about the situation.
Amarilla is a 61-year-old lawyer and politician who has served as a member of the Paraguay since 2023, when she was elected to a five year term. She is a member of the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (Authentic Liberal Radical Party), which she helped found in 1982.
Born on Oct. 21, 1964 in the city of San Juan Bautista, Amarilla attended and graduated from the Collège de l’Immaculée Conception, a French-language primary and secondary school in the capital city of Asunción and later earned her law degree from the Universidad del Norte in 2008.
After serving in several lower level government and municipal positions throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Amarilla was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2018, representing the capital district of Asunción there until 2023, when she was elected to the senate.
Amarilla has a history of making controversial comments. In 2020, she was suspended for 60 days from the Chamber of Deputies via a vote by her fellow deputies after she accused 70 of them of buying their seats in the chamber. In January, she made headlines after calling teachers who were against Public Pension Fund reforms “donkeys and mediocre.”
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On Saturday, July 4, in a series of posts to her X account, Amarilla went after Mbappé following a tense match which saw 23 fouls and a series of back and forth scuffles between the two sides.
Amarilla referred to Mbappé as a “colonized Cameroonian, pretending hard to be French” and that “the only thing many of us demanded of La Albirroja is not to have slapped him open-handed after the match ended.” In a follow up post, accompanied by a photo of Mbappé celebrating the win in front of Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, she referred to the French captain as a “brute” who never learned to write, and that instead of drinking breast milk as a infant, he “sucked on coconuts” and “the most intelligent things he heard were chimpanzees.”
On Monday, July 6, Mbappé took to his X account to issue a direct statement to Amarilla, calling her a “despicable woman” who is “unworthy of (her) position” as a senator.
“You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition,” Mbappé wrote. “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.”
Germany national team fans party in Patriot Place at Boston Stadium before a World Cup Round of 32 match between Germany and Paraguay on Monday, June 29, 2026.
Germany national team fans party in Patriot Place at Boston Stadium before a World Cup Round of 32 match between Germany and Paraguay on Monday, June 29, 2026.
Not really. On Monday, July 6, Amarilla posted an open letter in both Spanish and French to her X account saying that her problem was not with France or the French people, but with Mbappé himself, whom she described as “arrogant.”
While she said she regretted having “mistreated (Mbappé) with the same insults” she has received as someone of a mixed race background, and “understand that it bothered you, because it’s humiliating,” she in turn demanded Mbappé apologize for calling her a “despicable woman” and “unworthy of (her) position,” claiming it was “pure and hard gender violence” and that he “attacks (her) because (she) is a woman.” She said if he did not apologize, she would take legal action “for gender violence.”
On Monday, June 6, French President Emmanuel Macron took to X to praise Mbappé’s response.
“Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time. All my support. When words defile, our values respond: dignity, respect, fraternity,” Macron wrote.
The French Football Federation also issued a response on X in both French and English.
“The racist remarks made by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla targeting Kylian Mbappé are utterly abhorrent and unacceptable,” the FFF wrote. “How can anyone make such comments? These remarks are criminal and deserve condemnation. They must be prosecuted, here and elsewhere. The FFF is referring the matter to the public prosecutor’s office with a view to legal proceedings. The Federation offers its full support to its captain, its players and, more broadly, to all victims of such hateful remarks. More than ever, the FFF remains committed to fighting racism and all forms of discrimination. These comments bring shame on those who make them and those who spread them. The players of the French national team represent France, it is our country that has been insulted.”
The same day, Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on its website condemning Amarilla’s comments on behalf of the Paraguayan government and “expressing solidarity” with those affected by her statements.
“The Government of the Republic of Paraguay deplores and rejects the statements made by Senator Celeste Amarilla, directed at the captain of the French national team, Kylian Mbappé, which are contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity that our country promotes.”
On Tuesday, July 7, FIFA Players’ Voice Panel VP Honorary Captain George Weah, who as a player became the first African to win the Ballon d’Or in 1995 and is father of United States Men’s National Team midfielder Timothy Weah, expressed the board’s solidarity with Mbappé.
“Football must always be a game of respect, inclusion and unity,” Weah, who also served as president of Liberia from 2018-2024, said. “There can be zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. Our message is clear: racism is never part of the game. It’s a crime.”
On Tuesday, July 7, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a press release posted to its website that Amarilla’s comments were “racist and dehumanising.”
“(The statements are) despicable and, regrettably, not isolated. Reports of racist incidents during the FIFA World Cup 2026 reflect a wider phenomenon across football and sports more broadly. Public officials have a heightened responsibility to stand against racism, discrimination and hate speech in their discourse.”
On Tuesday, June 7, prosecutors in Paris announced that they had opened an investigation into Amarilla’s remarks at the behest of the FFF. If found guilty of making comments targeting a French national on the basis of their “actual or perceived origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion,” Amarilla could face up to a year in prison in France and a €45,000 ($51,417.67) fine.
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