Mbappe Explains Why He Half-Wore Ceuta Solidarity Shirt, Real Madrid Ultras Demand Public Apology

Kylian Mbappe finally explained himself. It didn't end the argument.

Before Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Elche on Tuesday, September 15, players from both clubs wore t-shirts reading "Todos somos caballas" — "we are all mackerel," a local nickname for Ceuta residents — with the tagline "our city, our homeland." The gesture, organized by Elche as the home club and accepted by Real Madrid, was meant to show solidarity with the Spanish North African enclave after a summer migration crisis, according to Goal.com and LiveScore.

Every player wore it properly. Except three.

Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Ibrahima Konate rolled the shirts up to their chests during the pre-match presentation, covering the text entirely. Spanish media noticed immediately. So did LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who said Wednesday, "putting it half on is the same as not wearing it," according to Al Jazeera.

What Mbappe Says Happened

Mbappe broke his silence Wednesday in an interview with the Spanish sports daily AS, cited by Euronews, Goal.com, and sports.yahoo.com. He said the shirt itself was a club-to-club arrangement the players were required to wear, but that he chose to modify how he wore it to broaden the message.

"The first thing I want to say is that I have all the solidarity with Ceuta and with all the victims," Mbappe said, according to AS. "Because before being a player, I am human. But I also wanted to have a gesture and a thought for all the immigrants who have lost their lives and who are also in harsh conditions."

He called it a difficult spot to be in. "People may think that I am against the people of Ceuta but no, absolutely not," he said. "I have nothing against them, and I support them 100% with my thoughts. But I also wanted to have a thought for all the people who suffer."

Mbappe closed by saying he doesn't "want to put priority on suffering" and hopes the situation "is resolved quickly."

The Backstory: Why Ceuta Needed a Shirt at All

The gesture traces back to a humanitarian crisis that unfolded over the summer. Al Jazeera reports tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta on July 30 and 31. Most returned within hours, but several thousand stayed, straining the city and fueling tensions with local residents, who have complained about migrants camping on beaches and sleeping in the streets.

People died attempting the crossing that same month. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights, a nongovernmental group, estimates at least 141 deaths, according to Al Jazeera's reporting.

A shirt reading "we are all Ceutans" carried real weight for people on both sides of the crisis, which is why obscuring it struck some as tone-deaf.

The Backlash Is Real, and Comes From a Specific Group

Ultras Sur, a Real Madrid supporters' group Al Jazeera describes as often associated with the far-right, posted a statement on X late Wednesday demanding "public apologies" from the three players. "We are certain that every Real Madrid supporter and every Spaniard is ashamed of the image given by these three individuals," the group said, calling their conduct "unacceptable."

The group also criticized Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for staying silent — notable given Ultras Sur has been banned from the Santiago Bernabeu for more than a decade and has an adversarial history with club leadership, according to Al Jazeera.

A reasonable case can be made for the criticism on its own terms. The shirt was a collective gesture, agreed to by both clubs, meant to stand with a Spanish city dealing with a real crisis. Every other player on the pitch, including the Elche squad, wore it as intended. Partially covering the message, whatever the intent, visibly separated three players from a unified show of support their own club had signed onto.

Mbappe's defenders would counter that he never rejected the message, that he said explicitly he backs Ceuta "100 percent," and that expanding a gesture to include migrant deaths isn't the same as opposing the original cause. Both things can be true at once, which is part of why this hasn't cooled off.

Real Madrid has not issued a club statement responding to Ultras Sur's demand, and Perez has not commented publicly, per Al Jazeera's reporting as of Wednesday.

Not Isolated to Madrid

The episode isn't confined to one club. Real Betis winger Abde Ezzalzouli, a Morocco international who moved to Spain as a child, wore the Ceuta shirt properly ahead of Betis' match against Villarreal on Monday, September 14, and then faced backlash from fans in Morocco, according to Goal.com. Abde said on social media he wouldn't apologize, insisting the gesture carried no political motive and wasn't meant to show "disdain for the Moroccan people."

The same T-shirt produced opposite controversies for opposite reasons within the same week of Spanish football. This is proof the underlying migration crisis is dividing opinion far beyond three Real Madrid players.

Real Madrid, under manager Xabi Alonso, next faces crosstown rival Atletico Madrid in a derby scheduled for Sunday, September 20. Whether the club or LaLiga takes any formal action against the three players before then remains an open question — nothing has been announced.