France Football Federation has launched an official complaint over the conduct of Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez over his consistent mocking of Kylian Mbappe.
Martinez helped Argentina defeat France on penalties in the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup last weekend.
And during the Albiceleste’s celebration back home, Martinez was spotted carrying around a doll with Mbappe’s face taped to it during the celebrations in Buenos Aires.
The 30-year-old even called for a mock moment’s silence in the dressing room after the game.
As a result he has been branded the ‘most hated man in football’ by 2018 World Cup winner Adil Rami, with the Argentine goalkeeper continuing to fan the flame with his conduct.
And Noel Le Graet, president of the French FA, spoke of how he has written a formal letter of complaint to his Argentina counterpart Claudio Tapia to illustrate his opinions on the matter.
“I wrote to my counterpart from the Argentine Federation, I find these excesses abnormal, in the context of a sports competition, and I find it difficult to understand,”he told Ouest-France.
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“This is going too far. Mbappé’s behaviour has been exemplary.”
As well as his taunts targeting Mbappe, Martinez also drew criticism for making a crude gesture with the Golden Glove trophy – something which he has since claimed was in response to French boos during the game.
The 24-year-old – who took home the Golden Boot award despite not lifting the Trophy in Qatar – has not offered anything in response to Martinez’s taunts, and in fact returned to training at PSG earlier than expected.
Martinez was also visibly pumped up during the penalty shoot-out and performed some inflammatory dance moves to celebrate Aurelien Tchouameni’s missed attempt, much to the chagrin of Les Bleus fans.
A French minister has also called for FIFA to investigate Emiliano Martinez after his actions following Argentina’s World Cup final win over France
“What is Fifa doing? Sport is about fair play,”claimed Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery on Sud Radio.
“It’s showing respect for others. It’s showing respect for those who lost.”
There had been tension between the pair prior to their meeting on the field on Sunday after the Frenchman had claimed that European teams came into major tournaments in better stead than their south American opponents.
And Martinez was clearly aggravated by the comments, replying: “He doesn’t know enough about football. He never played in South America.
“When you don’t have this experience, it may be better not to talk about it. But it doesn’t matter. We are a great team, recognised as such.”
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COMMENTS
The same Mbappe that was laughing at England for Kane’s penalty miss is now exemplary what goes around comes around deal with it.