Paraguayan senator's racist Mbappé slur sparks diplomatic row
The remarks sparked widespread condemnation from French officials, including President Emmanuel Macron.
Racist row erupts
French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Paraguay's president had written to him to express support and condemn racist remarks made by the senator about French football captain Kylian Mbappé.
Senator Celeste Amarilla, meanwhile, has called on Mbappé to apologise for describing her as a "despicable woman" and has threatened legal action.
She demanded the apology in an open letter published on Monday night, after earlier posting highly controversial and racist comments about Mbappé, describing him as a "colonised Cameroonian" trying to pass as French.
"The idiot didn't even learn to write. Instead of drinking his mother's milk, he was sucking on coconuts," she wrote in her post on Monday, two days after France's World Cup victory over Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday, a bruising and bad-tempered match.
Amarilla also claimed that France "won by a fluke" and said Mbappé had been "nervous and scared to death the whole match, like his entire team".
Mbappé hits back
Mbappé responded in a post on X, defending himself as well as the Paraguay players.
"Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, a country that has sweated passion and honour throughout the competition," he wrote.
"Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort your players achieved during this World Cup, making way for an incompetent woman who presents the worst possible image of her country."
In her letter on Monday night, Amarilla said she had deleted her earlier post after reconsidering its language, but insisted that Mbappé should still apologise. She added that her disagreement was with Mbappé personally, not with France itself.
She said she had written her initial message in response to what she considered Mbappé's arrogance before and during the match, in particular his failure to shake hands with Paraguay's goalkeeper after the final whistle.
"You displayed your contempt, your arrogance and your poor manners in a single second. It hurt me, and it hurt my entire country, deeply," she wrote.
"France should hold you accountable, because it is a nation of knights, with centuries of history and expertise. France should hold you accountable for your behaviour."
The French Football Federation (FFF) has announced plans to file a criminal complaint, describing Amarilla's remarks as "utterly abhorrent and unacceptable".