Shashi Tharoor's World of Words is a weekly column dissecting English language
France international Kylian Mbappe on Sunday accused the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) of ignoring racist abuse after his penalty miss at Euro 2020.
The Paris Saint-Germain star’s decisive spot-kick against Switzerland was saved in the last-16 shootout, resulting in the world champions exiting the tournament.
The 23-year-old was vilified on social media by furious fans, and even considered quitting the national team as a result.
In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, FFF president Noel Le Graet spoke of the lack of support Mbappe had felt after the Euro elimination.
Le Graet said “he (Mbappe) considered that the federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism on social media networks”.
“We saw each other for five minutes in my office,” continued Le Graet, adding the striker “no longer wanted to play in the French team - which he obviously did not think”.
On Sunday, Mbappe responded on Twitter, regretting that Le Graet had not taken into account the “racism” of which he would have been a victim.
“Yes finally I explained to him (Le Graet) above all that it was in relation to racism, and NOT to the penalty,” Mbappe said.
“But he considered that there had been no racism...”
Le Graet had already come under fire last September after declaring that racism in football “does not exist or hardly exists”.
A few months before the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it was investigating racist messages towards certain French international players after the Euros.
On Saturday, Fifa published a report pointing to the increase in the number of insults against footballers on social media.
According to this study, 38 percent of them were racist in nature.
Shashi Tharoor's World of Words is a weekly column dissecting English language
Between them the two players are set to receive a stake around $150 million from the Tour's newly-formed enterprise
The four-time Grand Slam winner has enjoyed huge success with her powerful baseline game but has struggled on clay
The Tiago has been instrumental in driving Tata Motors’ consistent growth in the hatchback segment
'Women of My Billion' is set to premiere exclusively on Prime Video on May 3
Aditi and Siddharth recently shared the news of their engagement with an adorable picture
Video shows a red 4WD weaving in and out of traffic, causing a collision on the road shoulder
India captain Rohit Sharma said he is not a fan of the rule as it will hold back the development of all-rounders