Real defend players' freedom of expression after Mbappe, Vinicius cover message of support for Ceuta

MADRID, Sept 16 - Real Madrid defended their players' right to have differing opinions after forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. obscured a solidarity message for the people of Ceuta before Tuesday's LaLiga clash with Elche.

Both teams emerged wearing t-shirts reading "Todos somos caballas" ("We are all mackerels") - caballas being a nickname for people from the Spanish territory of Ceuta.

However, Mbappe and Vinicius rolled their shirts up to chest height, rendering the message illegible, before removing them entirely as they exited the tunnel. Teammate Ibrahima Konate simply held his shirt in his hands.

The show of support comes after more than 70,000 irregular crossings into Ceuta from Morocco occurred in July, sparking solidarity movements across Spain.

A Real Madrid official told Reuters that the club accepted Elche's request to show such support in solidarity and wear the shirts, but as an organisation respect differing opinions and gave each player the freedom to choose whether or not to wear the shirt.

Real organised a tifo in their singing section last Tuesday in support of Ceuta for their Champions League match against Inter Milan, with fans holding up placards of the Ceuta flag. The initiative to wear the t-shirts was promoted by the Valencian Business Association, and Barcelona decided not to wear them during their clash with Levante on Sunday.

On Monday, Moroccan international Ez Abde had received abusive comments on social media for sporting the shirt before Real Betis' clash with Villarreal.

Abde responded with a statement saying that he would not apologise for doing so, and that the message was in support of a community and a social cause rather than of any political content. REUTERS