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, 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 had accepted Elche’s request to show solidarity by wearing the shirts, but, as an organisation, respected differing opinions and had given each player the freedom to choose whether or not to wear one.

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 t-shirt initiative was promoted by the Valencian Business Association, and Barcelona decided not to wear them during their clash with Levante on Sunday.

Mbappe told Spanish newspaper Diario AS on Wednesday that his thoughts were with the people of Ceuta, but that he also wanted to consider the issue of migrants suffering and losing their lives.

“I also wanted to think about all the people who are suffering, because in the end I am human and I don’t want to prioritise the suffering of one group over another,” said Mbappe.

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.