How a football chant sparked a diplomatic row and made Argentina the pariah

The Argentinians are here, making a noise, even if not quite the same volume as at World Cups, where they mocked host nation Brazil 10 years ago and deafened Qatar two years ago when watching their heroes lift 'La Copa.'

Their brash, mischievous spirit was cherished on those occasions. Now, their nation is branded a pariah. An Olympics supposed to be an emblem of solidarity and friendship has been prefaced by whistles and boos for Argentina's football and rugby sevens sides - a response to Lionel Messi's team chanting a racist, transphobic song about French players of African heritage after winning the Copa America.

A small group of Argentines wearing the distinctive colours of the bandera Argentina flag near the corner of Rue of Saint Honore and Rue des Pyramides are not wearing the usually sunny disposition when the racism issue is put to them. 'Please look at your country before you judge ours,' says one of them, Javier Molinero. 'You, the French, the Europeans - you were the colonialists, and now Europe accuses us of racism.' Simon Pacafos insists the song 'was in good spirit. You don't know our culture. You don't know our humour.'

There's a distinct edge to this conversation and it is impossible, among this group at least, to find anyone who will damn Enzo Fernandez and team-mates for a chant about the French players, first sung by Argentinian fans before the final in Qatar. 'They play for France, but their parents are from Angola,' it runs. 'Their mother is from Cameroon while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.' The 'lyrics' also tie Kylian Mbappe into a vicious transphobic reference.

The testy response in the streets of Paris explains why the country's right-wing populist president, Javier Milei, removed the country's sports minister Julio Garro from post for suggesting that team captain Lionel Messi issue an apology for the chant.

Milei's spokesman has attempted to distance the president from vice-president Victoria Villareal's insistence that Argentina would not tolerate criticism from a 'colonialist' country like France. Yet Milei's scheduled meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron to discuss trade on Friday morning assumed an urgent diplomatic significance.

Someone in Argentina's Copa America squad certainly knew that their chant, which Chelsea's Fernandez posted on his Instagram feed, was racist. Towards the end of the clip, someone can be heard saying, 'corta el vivo' – 'cut the live stream.' But the half-apologies have been unconvincing and the subsequent revulsion and response brings what some see as Argentina's race problem out into the light.

The country has traditionally prided itself on its European heritage, with the mass migration of seven million mainly Spanish and Italian Europeans between 1850 and 1950 creating a white racial profile many Argentines feel distinguishes them from the rest of Latin America. The expression, 'in Argentina there are no Blacks/Indians left,' is common. Commentators and academics have argued that this demonstrates 'a racism through the denial' in a country where 97 per cent of the population identifies as white European. It wasn't until the 2010 census that an option was included for Argentinians wishing to self-identify as Afro-descendants.

Few in the country's sports realm view it that way, preferring to claim this week that the boos for the Argentinian teams demonstrated lingering French bitterness at the defeat in Qatar final.

'I don't know if it's because of the World Cup with Messi, said Marcos Moneta, the star of the Argentina rugby 7s team after his own team lost to the French on Thursday night. 'I don't know why they're angry with us. It is just a song to sing, not that you mean it. Maybe here they are not used to it. I think also a lot of French people did a lot of bad things to Argentinians, especially in rugby.'

He was referencing the arrest of two young French rugby players, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, on suspicion of the rape of a 39-year-old woman after France beat Argentina on Saturday. The pair remain under house arrest in Argentina. Argentinians are also citing the case of Federico Aramburu, a former rugby international for the country, who was shot dead by two men in Paris in 2022.

Privately, some Argentinians are embarrassed that the naked racism of the national football team's chant is being legimitised. 'It takes us into the dark ages when we want to be projecting the image of a modern, intelligent nation,' says one journalist. He asks not to be named because these issues are toxic.

Some elements of Argentinian media have used the chaos of the team's opening defeat by Morocco - when the players left the field and VAR ruled against Javier Mascherano's team - as evidence of French organisational incompetence. 'Olympic Games: the French disaster,' declared the headline in an Ole piece stating that the Games 'started with flaws worthy of the third world country.' Disrespecting the anthems at the football team's match in Saint Etienne 'was not even seen in the deepest amateur tournaments of underdeveloped countries,' stated La Nacion.

France are not the first nation to be offended by the tone and profanity of the songs relentlessly composed by Argentina's hinchas, or fans. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Argentinians bragged of bossing the host country around 'in their own back yard', fuelling resentment from many in Rio and Sao Paolo. But the insults directed at France after the Qatar final were unprecedented, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez the ring-leader – parading a baby doll in the image of Kylian Mbappe and mocking him in a dressing room video.

Mbappe's air of superiority and chauvinism before that tournament, claiming that South American football was 'not as advanced in Europe and that is why it always the Europeans who have won,' invited on the abuse that has since descended into naked racism.

'The players have achieved so much for us in Qatar at a time of such economic struggle, 100 per cent inflation and fractious politics in the country - that whatever they say goes,' says the journalist. 'A minister is sacked for daring to challenge them. This has gone too far now.'

The appearance of Argentinian archer Mario Damian Jajarabilla in national colours at the Olympic archery qualification event passed off without incident on Friday, with the 25-year-old calmly advancing to next Wednesday's round of 32. But Olympian diplomacy will be needed to extinguish this fire. Don't hold your breath.