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France condemns Argentina footballers' 'racist remarks'

July 16, 2024

The French Football Federation is filing a complaint with FIFA and taking legal action over "racist and discriminatory remarks" made by Argentine players in post-match chants directed at the French team.

https://p.dw.com/p/4iO6D
Left to right: Emiliano Martinez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Julian Alvarez, Gonzalo Montiel, Nahuel Molina and Enzo Fernandez of Argentina
Players of the Argentine national football team have been accused of racist and discriminatory remarks against French playersImage: Elsa/Getty Images

The French Football Federation (FFF) said Tuesday that it decided to lodge a complaint with world football's governing body FIFA and take legal action after racist chants were directed at French players by members of the Argentine football team after they won the Copa America tournament.

In a statement, FFF president Philippe Diallo "condemned with the greatest firmness the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks made against players of the France team."

He is going "to contact its Argentinian counterpart and FIFA directly to file a legal complaint for racist and discriminatory remarks," FFF said.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who described the Argentinian remarks as "pathetic" also called for FIFA to take action.

"Behavior all the more unacceptable because it is repeated," Oudea-Castera wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "FIFA: a reaction?" she added.

What was the chant about?

In a video posted to Instagram by Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from the team bus after Sunday's Copa America win over Colombia in Miami, the Argentine players appear to be singing a chant dating back to the 2022 World Cup final that Argentina won against France.

The song targets France's star striker Kylian Mbappe and includes homophobic slurs. The derogatory chants also single out French players of African descent, from multiple countries, and with French passports.

Argentina and France have maintained a heated rivalry since the South Americans lost to eventual champion France in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup.

Two years ago, the FFF also filed a complaint against racist comments on social media. Videos taken during the World Cup celebrations in Buenos Aires showed racist remarks against Mbappe.

dh/ab (AP, AFP)