French Federation take racism complaint against Argentina to legal channels, demand FIFA response

French Football Federation (FFF) President Philippe Diallo has demanded a response from his Argentine counterparts after videos emerged that appeared to show Argentina players and coaching staff celebrating their Copa America win by singing offensive songs aimed at France and their star man Kylian Mbappe.

The FFF has revealed that they have already filed a legal complaint over the “unacceptable, racist and discriminatory” chant and they have asked for a response from both FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Argentina bigwig Claudio Fabian Tapia.

In the wake of Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia on Sunday which saw them retain their continental crown and secure a third major trophy in four years, videos of the celebrations have garnered attention in France as it seems that La Albiceleste crossed the line with the content of their post-match chanting.

Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final in a pulsating match and it appears that the rivalry still has a nasty edge to it.

After the match, Argentina player Enzo Fernandez, who plays his club football for Chelsea, shared footage of himself and his teammates chanting about the France national team on his Instagram account.

The offensive chant in question references the number of French players who were either born in Africa or who are the children of African immigrants.

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“The president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, condemns in the strongest terms the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks which were made against the players of the French team in the context of a song sung by players and supporters of the Argentina team after its victory in the Copa America and broadcast in a video on social media,” an FFF statement read on Tuesday.

“Faced with the seriousness of these shocking remarks, contrary to the values ​​of sport and human rights, the president of the FFF decided to directly challenge his Argentine counterpart and FIFA and to file a legal complaint for insulting remarks of a racial and discriminatory nature.”

The chants are an echo of similar songs that were sung by Argentina supporters during the World Cup in Qatar.

Anti-racism association SOS Racisme were among those who called for action to be taken against fans chanting what they believed amounted to “expression of a far-right ideology” but FIFA took no action.

Previously it had been Argentina fans who were recorded singing the song but in this latest incident it was clear that players on the team bus had joined in on the chants. The live video of the celebrations was soon cut off but not before the racist chants were broadcast across Instagram.

FIFA, the AFA, CONMEBOL and Chelsea are all yet to respond to the allegations in public.