France may contact Argentina sports minister over fans' World Cup taunts

PARIS: French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said she may contact her Argentine counterpart over the "vulgar" taunting of France forward Kylian Mbappe by some Argentina fans in Buenos Aires as they celebrated the return of the World Cup winners.

During Argentina's jubilant homecoming, a group of fans set alight a makeshift coffin lid adorned with a cross and picture of Mbappe, while Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez clutched a toy baby with Mbappe's face on it during an open-top bus parade through the capital.

Images of both went viral on social media.

Oudea-Castera told RTL Radio she was looking at the issue.

"I am not ruling out discussing this with my counterpart," she said, adding that France's football body had also written to Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), over the affair.

"I find all of this quite pitiful," she added.

The Argentine Embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.