Paraguay racism storm as France labelled ‘team from Africa’

Legendary Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert has been called a “disgrace” and accused of racism by the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) after describing the France side as a “team from Africa”.

Philippe Diallo, the FFF president, described Chilavert’s comments as “racist remarks” and said the 60-year-old had “undermined the values of respect, fraternity and diversity” in the sport.

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Chilavert was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world during his career, and famous for taking free-kicks and penalties. He scored a remarkable 67 competitive goals as a player, including eight for his national side between 1989 and 2003.

In a post on social media ahead of France’s round-of-16 meeting with Paraguay in Philadelphia, he said that the South Americans had played a French team in the 1998 World Cup but were now facing “a team from Africa”.

Those words prompted a furious response from Diallo, who said: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the racist remarks made by José Luis Chilavert against the French national team, which undermine the values of respect, fraternity, and diversity in our football.

“If he was once a great goalkeeper, this man has now fallen into disgrace.”

The row came as France and Paraguay played out a remarkably bad-tempered match in Philadelphia, as the South Americans tried to provoke the French at every opportunity.

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Paraguay’s deployment of various dark arts did not prove particularly effective, though, as Kylian Mbappé’s penalty gave France a deserved 1-0 victory.

Didier Deschamps, the France manager, said after the match that he had been insulted by the Paraguayan bench. And Rayan Cherki, the France midfielder, added: “It was important to us to play a game like this during this World Cup, to remind everyone that the French team knows how to play beautiful football but also knows how to wage war.”

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