Kingsley Coman looks dejected after missing his penalty (Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
Several members of the France team that lost to Argentina in the World Cup final were subjected to “hateful” racist abuse on social media, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Tuesday, adding that it intended to file a legal complaint.
The abuse directed at Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni, who missed their penalties in the shoot-out, echoed that received by three England players following their Euro 2020 final loss to Italy last year.
French soccer bosses issued a strong statement on Tuesday punishing the abusers, who took to social media after a thrilling final saw France come from 2-0 down and 3-2 down to a penalty shootout. .
The team earned a lot of credit with most of the French during the tournament and around 50,000 people greeted them at the Place de la Concorde on Monday upon their return from Qatar.
“At the end of the World Cup final, several players of the French national team were subjected to racist and unacceptably hateful comments on social media,” the FFF tweeted on the France soccer team’s Twitter account.
“The FFF condemns them and will file a complaint against the authors of those comments.”
After the World Cup final, several players of the French team were subjected to unacceptable racist and hateful comments on social media.
The FFF condemns them and will file a complaint against those responsible. pic.twitter.com/Y4TG65vPJ8
— French team ?? (@FrenchTeam) December 20, 2022
Coman, whose second-half introduction by manager Didier Deschamps sparked a French renaissance, has already had his club, German champions Bayern Munich, leap to his defense.
“FC Bayern strongly condemns the racist comments towards Kingsley Coman,” he tweeted on Monday.
“The FC Bayern family has your back, King. Racism has no place in sport or in our society.”
Politicians were quick to condemn the abuse and the opposition Socialist Party urged the FFF to file a complaint.
Isabelle Rome, the minister for Equality and Diversity, called the abuse “unacceptable.”
“I condemn these comments in the highest vigor,” he tweeted.
This is not the first time that the French team has been attacked.
Kylian Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in Sunday’s match, was abused after missing a penalty in the last-16 Euro 2020 shootout loss to Switzerland.
After the Euro 2020 final, England players Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, all black, received a torrent of abuse online after failing to score their penalties as England failed to win their first trophy since the World Cup from 1966.
British police made several arrests after that and one man was jailed for 10 weeks.
