Mbappé and Vinícius caught in Spain's migration debate after obscuring message on Ceuta shirts

Real Madrid stars Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior have found themselves in the middle of a supercharged political and social debate in Spain about migration and the country's relations with Morocco.

The reason is their decision to cover up part of the message on a T-shirt in support of Ceuta — a small Spanish city located on the North African coast — that players for both Madrid and Elche were supposed to wear before their league game on Tuesday (September 15).

Ceuta was overwhelmed by a mass crossing of some 80,000 people, mostly from neighboring Morocco, in late July.

While Mbappé, Vinícius and teammate Ibrahima Konaté put on the shirts, they wore them rolled up to their chests so that some of the words were obscured. They then removed their shirts before they shook hands with the Elche players and the referee ahead of kickoff.