A World Cup penalty has turned into a legal case spanning two continents. French prosecutors have launched an investigation into alleged racist abuse of Kylian Mbappe by a Paraguayan senator after France's 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday. The probe, triggered by a complaint from the French Football Federation, targets posts by Sen. Celeste Amarilla on X that mocked Mbappe's origins, upbringing, and how he looks after he scored the decisive goal, reports the Washington Post. In one tweet, Amarilla wrote that, growing up, Mbappe "sucked on coconuts, and the most educated thing he heard were chimpanzees."
Amarilla also called Mbappe a "brute who had not learned to write" and a "colonized Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French," per the Guardian. The Paris prosecutor's office said the comments are being examined as possible aggravated public insult and incitement to hatred or violence—offenses that can carry up to a one-year prison term and a fine of more than $50,000. Mbappe hit back online, calling Amarilla a "despicable woman" unfit for office.
Amarilla later said she'd deleted at least one of her posts (others remained live as of Tuesday morning) and expressed regret, saying she'd used the kind of insults she has faced as a mixed-race person. She accused Mbappe, however, of gender-based violence over his remarks about her and asked for an apology. Paraguay's government distanced itself from the senator's words, while French officials and the FFF publicly backed the French team captain.
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