The United Nations Human Rights condemned a Paraguayan government official's racist remarks toward Kylian Mbappé.
Mbappé scored the lone goal in France's 1-0 victory over Paraguay in Saturday's World Cup match. Following Paraguay's round-of-16 elimination, Senator Celeste Amarilla called Mbappé a "brute" and "colonized Cameroonian, pretending to be French" who "grew up sucking on coconuts."
On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights office released a statement denouncing Amarilla's tirade.
"The racist and dehumanising remarks against French footballer Kylian Mbappé by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla are despicable and, regrettably, not isolated," the statement said. "Reports of racist incidents during the FIFA World Cup 2026 reflect a wider phenomenon across football and sports more broadly."
FIFA, Mbappé respond to racist remarks
© Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The statement added that, "Public officials have a heightened responsibility to stand against racism, discrimination and hate speech in their discourse."
"States and sports organisations must actively work to prevent acts of racism and any other form of discrimination," the UN Human Rights said. "They should also ensure that there are independent and effective accountability mechanisms in place. Social media companies also have a responsibility to prevent and address racial discrimination and xenophobic abuse on their platforms, in accordance with international human rights standards."
The FIFA Players' Voice Panel said they were "deeply disturbed" by the comments directed at Mbappé, adding that racism has "absolutely no place" in the sport or society.
"We stand in complete solidarity with Kylian Mbappé and condemn this reprehensible abuse in the strongest possible terms," FIFA PVP captain and soccer icon George Weah said. "Football must always be a game of respect, inclusion, and unity. 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."
Mbappé fired back at Amarilla, calling her a "despicable woman" who's "unworthy of your position" on social media.
"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," Mbappé wrote. "I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world."
