Rajoy faces racism backlash over French team remarks
Former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has sparked a cross-border political row by claiming the French football team lacks French players.
Mariano Rajoy is facing widespread accusations of racism after writing that the French national football team "does not have any French players." The former Spanish conservative prime minister made the claim in a Friday column for the online newspaper El Debate. He was assessing Spain's looming semi-final showdown with France.
Rajoy used the article to praise France's footballing prowess, noting they are currently ranked number one by FIFA and have won every match in the tournament. However, his assertion that the squad lacks French players immediately provoked fury. The remarks drew direct comparisons to a recent racist social media attack on French striker Kylian Mbappé by Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla.
The controversy quickly escalated into a diplomatic issue, drawing responses from the highest levels of government in both countries. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez took the unusual step of publicly rebuking his predecessor. In a post on X, Sánchez rejected the idea that national belonging is measured by "surname, place of birth, or skin colour."
Sánchez contrasted this view with his belief that a nation belongs to those willing to contribute to it, whether by playing football, caring for the elderly, or opening businesses. He concluded his post with a message for the French team ahead of the match. "France, we’ll see you in the semi-finals. May the best team win and may racism lose."
Political and economic stakes
The row touches on wider European tensions regarding immigration, diversity, and economic contribution. In defending a broader definition of national belonging, Sánchez explicitly cited "opening businesses" as a valid measure of commitment. This highlights the entrepreneurial role of diverse communities across the continent that critics argue comments like Rajoy's implicitly marginalise.
Across the border, French officials responded with equal force. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez dismissed Rajoy's comments as "completely unacceptable" during an interview with the French channel BFMTV on Sunday. Nuñez emphasised that such statements do not represent France, which he described as a country of diversity where everyone can find their place.
The backlash extended across France's political opposition. Olivier Faure, leader of the French Socialist party, stressed that the national team is composed entirely of French citizens. "France is not an ethnic nation; it has no skin colour or religion," Faure wrote on X, adding it is a political nation united around the republican motto.
Fabien Roussel, head of the French Communist party, explicitly linked Rajoy's column to the earlier slur from Amarilla, who called Mbappé a "colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French." Roussel accused the former prime minister of resorting to "filthy racism" in an attempt to antagonise the French team.
Naïma Moutchou, France's minister for overseas territories, argued that these recurring insults point to a deeper issue rather than simple slips of the tongue. She noted that the same racist obsessions resurface every time France wins, characterising it as a methodical hatred of what the country represents. Moutchou called on the French football federation to pursue all legal avenues against Rajoy, mirroring the complaint already filed over Amarilla's remarks.
