Controversy at Real Madrid over a shirt in support of Ceuta: Vinícius, Mbappé and Konaté hide its message
The three players of the white team wore the garment before the match against Elche, but they wore it rolled up and did not show the slogan "We are all caballas"
Vinícius, Kylian Mbappé, and Ibrahima Konaté were involved in a controversy during the pre-match build-up between Elche and Real Madrid. The three players took to the pitch wearing the shirt in support of Ceuta, but they wore it rolled up almost to their chests, so that the slogan "Todos somos caballas" was cut off. Vinícius and Mbappé also took off their shirts before the protocol greeting with the Elche players, while the rest of the footballers from both teams kept theirs on until after the greeting.
The shirt is part of an initiative promoted by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs on September 11 to show "solidarity, proximity, and territorial and social cohesion" with Ceuta. The campaign, called Todos somos caballas, in reference to the colloquial demonym for the inhabitants of Ceuta, has been moved to football with the support of LaLiga and has been seen in three matches played in Valencian territory: Levante-Barça, Villarreal-Betis, and Elche-Real Madrid.
Barça, however, did not join the initiative. In the match against Levante, played on Sunday at the Ciutat de València, the local team's players came out in the shirt in support of Ceuta, while the blaugrana footballers did not wear it. The Barça players, therefore, were the only ones out of the six teams involved in the three matches who did not take part in the initiative.
The precedent of former blaugrana Abde
The controversy arises following the case of the former Barça player Ez Abde. The Moroccan player for Betis wore the same shirt before the match against Villarreal and received a barrage of insults and threats on social media, especially from accounts of people who interpreted the gesture as a stance on Ceuta. Abde ended up restricting comments and archiving his Instagram posts.
Subsequently, the footballer defended his decision and assured that the shirt had a social and not a political character, and that he did not intend to offend Morocco. Betis and LaLiga expressed their support for the player. The reasons why Vinícius, Mbappé, and Konaté avoided fully showing the slogan, however, have not transpired.