Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé has come out to explain the reasons behind not fully displaying the shirt dedicated to solidarity with the residents of Ceuta before his team's match against Elche in the Spanish league, affirming that he stands in solidarity with the city and the victims of the crisis it experienced, but that he also wanted to show his sympathy for migrants who lost their lives or are living through harsh conditions, and therefore didn't want to appear as though he was giving one group's suffering priority over another's.
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Mbappé said, in remarks made specifically to the Spanish newspaper AS on Wednesday, that he wanted to explain his position so the public could understand it correctly, adding that wearing the shirt was a decision made by the two clubs and that players had been asked to wear it before kickoff.
He continued: "The first thing I want to say is that I stand fully in solidarity with Ceuta and with all the victims, because I'm a human being before I'm a football player. But I also wanted to remember all the migrants who lost their lives, and who are also living through difficult circumstances."
The French national team captain explained that his position put him in a difficult spot, since hiding part of the shirt could be interpreted as objecting to solidarity with the people of Ceuta, an interpretation he categorically denied.
He said: "It wasn't an easy position, because people might think I'm against the people of Ceuta, and that's not true at all. I have no problem with them, and I stand behind them one hundred percent in my thinking, but I also wanted to remember everyone who is suffering, because I don't want to rank suffering."
Mbappé added that he feels sadness over the suffering he sees in the world, and that his aim with his stance was to send a positive message calling for peace, expressing his hope that the crisis would end soon. This marked the first time the player has offered a direct explanation of the action that sparked widespread controversy since Tuesday evening's match between Elche and Real Madrid.
What Happened Before the Elche vs. Real Madrid Match?
The controversy began minutes before the match, which Real Madrid won 3-2 over Elche at the Martínez Valero stadium, with Mbappé scoring the Royal club's second goal in the 33rd minute. Before the players took to the pitch, white shirts were distributed bearing the phrase "Todos somos caballas," meaning, in this context, "We are all from Ceuta," since "caballas" is the popular nickname given to the city's residents, with the shirts also bearing another phrase: "Our city, our homeland."
Television broadcast footage showed Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, and Ibrahima Konaté wearing the shirt differently from the rest of both teams' players. The three lifted the bottom part of the shirt upward, preventing the full logo from being visible, before Mbappé and Vinícius removed it altogether before the handshake ceremony between the two teams' players had concluded, while the rest of the players kept it on until the end of the ceremony.
The newspaper AS explained that the initiative came from Elche, as the host club, after it adopted a campaign launched by the Valencia Business Association, and that Real Madrid agreed to take part in it. The club also stated, according to Reuters, that it supports the solidarity initiative but at the same time respects its players' freedom and individual positions regarding participation in such initiatives.
Who Launched the "We Are All From Ceuta" Campaign?
The Valencia Business Association "AVE" launched the campaign on September 11, saying in its statement that its aim was to show solidarity and closeness with the residents of Ceuta amid the repercussions of the recent crisis on social and economic life and job opportunities in the city. The association presented the initiative as a message of solidarity and social cohesion, before it moved onto football pitches through a number of clubs in the Valencia region.
Players from Villarreal and Real Betis had previously worn the same shirts, as did Levante's players before their match against Barcelona, while the Catalan club's players did not wear them. Spanish reports confirmed that clubs' participation in the initiative was not mandatory, but was done with each club's individual approval.
Real Madrid, for its part, agreed to Elche's request, and so most of its players entered the pitch wearing the shirt and displayed its full message, while Mbappé, Vinícius, and Konaté chose to hide part of it, which shifted the initiative from its solidarity framing into a broader debate over players' freedom and the limits of their participation in messages adopted by clubs before matches.
The Migration Crisis Behind the Campaign
The initiative came after the crisis Ceuta experienced at the end of last July, when around 70,000 people crossed into the city irregularly over a short period, according to figures announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Ceuta is located on the northern coast of Africa and is administered by Spain, while Morocco does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over it and claims it, along with Melilla.
Sánchez said the crisis peaked starting July 30, and that the government reinforced the border with additional police, Civil Guard, and army forces, alongside the use of boats, drones, and helicopters. According to the Spanish government's account, around 50,000 people were returned within the first 24 hours, with the number rising to more than 63,000 within 72 hours.
For its part, Morocco's Foreign Ministry rejected accusations made by certain Spanish political parties regarding Rabat's responsibility for the wave of crossings, saying those accusations were not based on evidence proving the involvement of Moroccan authorities. It also affirmed continued cooperation with Spain on migration and security matters, while the Spanish government described what happened as a multi-causal crisis that could not be explained by a single factor.
This political and humanitarian backdrop explains the sensitivity surrounding the shirt's message, since solidarity with Ceuta's residents became tied, in Spanish public discourse, to the fallout of the migration crisis, while Mbappé felt that focusing on the city's residents alone risked overlooking the migrants, some of whom died or endured extremely harsh conditions during crossing attempts.
Abdessamad Ezzalzouli Faced Harsh Criticism After Wearing the Shirt
Moroccan international Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, a Real Betis player, had found himself in the opposite situation days earlier, after wearing the same shirt alongside his teammates before the match against Villarreal, subsequently facing a wave of abuse and threats on social media from users who accused him of taking a political stance against Morocco.
Ezzalzouli responded with a statement clarifying that wearing the shirt was not directed against his country, and that the initiative had been presented to him as a social message of solidarity with people living through difficult circumstances, regardless of their nationality. He stressed his pride in his Moroccan roots, affirming that he sees no contradiction between that and human solidarity with the people of Ceuta.
What Ezzalzouli faced, followed by the criticism directed at Mbappé, Vinícius, and Konaté for not fully displaying the shirt, reveals the difficulty of players' position when sporting initiatives become tied to issues carrying intertwined political and humanitarian dimensions. In the first case, a player was criticized for taking part; in the second, three players were criticized for not taking part in the same way as their teammates.
Tebas Criticizes, While the Players' Association Takes a Different Stance
La Liga president Javier Tebas criticized the actions of the three Real Madrid players, telling reporters that wearing the shirt this way was, in his view, equivalent to not wearing it at all, arguing that the initiative was an institutional effort adopted by the clubs, not a personal expression of a political stance. He affirmed that the league approved the initiative but was not the party that launched it.
For his part, David Aganzo, president of the Spanish Footballers' Association "AFE," took a more cautious stance toward holding the players responsible, telling Cadena SER radio that the issue fundamentally concerns the need for players to be informed in advance of the meaning of the initiatives they're asked to take part in and the reasons behind them, arguing that providing full information could have prevented the controversy.
Resource: Al-Ghad.
