Real Madrid have defended Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior after the forwards obscured a solidarity message for the people of Ceuta before Tuesday’s LaLiga match against Elche.
A Real Madrid official told Reuters that the club accepted Elche’s request for both teams to wear shirts carrying the message, “Todos somos caballas” — meaning “We are all mackerels” — but allowed players to decide individually whether to wear the shirts.
Mbappe and Vinicius were seen rolling their shirts up before removing them completely as they left the tunnel, making the message difficult to read. Real Madrid defender Ibrahima Konate also held his shirt rather than wearing it fully.
The solidarity campaign followed more than 70,000 irregular crossings from Morocco into Ceuta in July and was promoted by the Valencian Business Association.
Barcelona also declined to wear the shirts during their match against Levante, while players at other LaLiga fixtures participated in the initiative.
Real Madrid said its position was to respect individual choices after agreeing to take part in the campaign.
The controversy follows a similar incident involving Real Betis forward Ez Abde, who faced criticism after wearing the shirt before his team’s match against Villarreal. Abde said the message was intended to support a community and social cause rather than make a political statement.
Meanwhile, Mbappe scored as Real Madrid defeated Elche 3-2, with Carlos Espi scoring the stoppage-time winner.
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