Under the lights at Elche, a pre-match message intended as a gesture of solidarity took a different shape for three Real Madrid players. Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Ibrahima Konaté wore the Ceuta support shirt raised to their chests before removing it ahead of the usual greetings with the opposition.
Real Madrid trio take a different approach to Ceuta shirt
Real Madrid travelled to Elche on Tuesday for the sixth round of the La Liga season, with both teams entering the pitch in T-shirts supporting Ceuta and its residents.
The shirts carried the Spanish message “Todos somos Caballas”, meaning “We are all from Ceuta”. “Caballas” is the nickname used for people from the Spanish enclave on Morocco’s northern coast, close to Tetouan.
Mbappé, Vinicius and Konaté did not display the full message in the same way as the rest of the players. Their shirts were pulled up towards the chest, covering part of the slogan, and the three then took them off before greeting Elche’s players.
- Kylian Mbappé
- Vinicius Junior
- Ibrahima Konaté
The move
The display came amid a major migration crisis in Ceuta, a Spanish territory covering 28 square kilometres. By the end of July, more than 70,000 irregular crossings from Morocco into the enclave had been recorded, reigniting political tensions around the territory and fuelling Spain’s wider immigration debate.
The scene at Elche followed support shown at the Santiago Bernabéu days earlier. During Real Madrid’s Champions League meeting with Inter Milan, supporters sang: “Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta will be defended.” Banners reading “All with Ceuta” were also distributed inside the stadium.
The French season around it
For Mbappé and Konaté, two France international figures at the centre of a Spanish football moment, the shirt sequence arrived one day after a separate controversy involving Real Betis forward Ez Abde.
The Moroccan attacker had faced criticism online after wearing the same Ceuta T-shirt. He said the gesture had no political purpose and was not intended as disrespect towards Moroccan people.
Abde described the shirt as support for “a population and its residents, regardless of their nationality”, while they face a difficult situation.
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