FFF president hits back former Spain Prime Minister’s ‘racist’ remark about France national team

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13 July 2026

Former Spain Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has been accused of racism after he stated that the

France

national team

“does not have any French players”.

It is the second time this tournament that

Les Bleus,

or one of their players, have been subjected to racist remarks at this summer’s

FIFA

World Cup

After

beat Paraguay in the last-32 stage, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla described

Kylian Mbappé

as a

“colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French

”. The FFF have denounced the

“utterly abhorrent and unacceptable”

comments, as have the UN Human Rights office, the Paraguayan government has distanced itself from the remarks, and French prosecutors have launched an investigation.

The President of France’s football federation (FFF), Philippe Diallo, said that Amarilla’s comments were

“criminal and reprehensible”.

He has now commented on Rajoy’s comments, which came in his column in

El Debate,

ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final between

La Roja

and

Les Bleus. “They are currently ranked No.1 in the

rankings. They also have a top-level squad. That said, they don’t have any French players, and they are playing very well,”

said Rajoy, who held office between 2011 and 2018.

In a post on social media, Diallo said the following:

“Mariano Rajoy’s comments concerning the

national team carry tones of intolerable racism and raise questions about the detestable climate that gives rise to such foul odours. Our players certainly don’t need to receive any nationality certificate from the Spanish Prime Minister. The

national team is the

national team.”

Several leading politicians in

have also denounced the comments from Rajoy’s column. Notably, France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, denounced the comments as

“completely unacceptable.”

GFFN

Luke Entwistle

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