- By JE Sports Desk
- Wed, 21 Dec 2022 12:10 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
THE French Football Federation (FFF) has condemned the online racist abuse directed towards its players and pledged to take action after they were targeted as the team lost to Argentina on penalties in Sunday's World Cup final in Qatar.
The BBC reported on Monday that France forward Kingsley Coman and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni were subjected to online racist abuse after missing their penalties in the final.
Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez saved Coman's effort from the spot, while Tchouameni shot wide as France failed to retain the title they won in 2018.
"Following the World Cup final, several players of the French national team were subjected to unacceptable racist and hateful comments on social networks," the FFF said on Twitter.
"The FFF condemns them and will file a complaint against their authors."
Earlier, Coman's club Bayern Munich also posted a message of support for the 26-year-old, condemning the racist comments made towards him.
During Argentina's victory parade in Buenos Aires, Martinez was seen holding a baby doll with French striker Kylian Mbappe's face on it. This happened during the open-top bus victory lap on the streets of the capital.
Interestingly, Mbappe's PSG teammate Messi was also standing beside Martinez on the bus. The French striker scored hat-trick before converting the penalty in the high-intensity FIFA World Cup 2022 final at Lusail Stadium on Sunday.
Earlier, after lifting the World Cup trophy Argentina players danced around dressing room and were heard singing “a minute’s silence for” in tandem, before leaving a gap for goalkeeper Martinez to shout: “For Mbappe who is dead!”
“The advantage we have in Europe is that we play among ourselves with high-level matches all the time, such as the Nations League, for example,” Mbappe said before the World Cup.
“When we arrive at the World Cup, we are ready, whereas Brazil and Argentina do not have this level in South America. Football is not as advanced as in Europe. That’s why at the last World Cups, it’s always the Europeans who win,” he added.
Martinez replied to Mbappe saying he doesn't have experience of playing in South America.
“He doesn’t know enough about football. He never played in South America. When you don’t have this experience, it may be better not to talk about it. But it doesn’t matter. We are a great team, recognised as such,” the goalkeeper had said.
(With Reuters inputs)
