“Petition against Mbappé reaches 44 million, the largest petition in the world.”

A wave of outrage is sweeping across social media and the football world: a petition demanding the removal of Kylian Mbappé from Real Madrid has surged to astronomical numbers, surpassing 44 million signatures in just three days. But are these numbers real or merely a digital manipulation? The answer is alarming and promises to further ignite the controversy surrounding the French forward.

The revolt against Mbappé began to gain momentum with the “Mbappé out” movement, which quickly spread across digital platforms, reflecting the growing discontent among Madrid fans. The online petition, launched last Tuesday, initially aimed for just 200,000 signatures – a target that was smashed in record time. However, something seems off in the realm of numbers.

An in-depth investigation by RMC Sports revealed that the signature counter on the site was programmed to increase automatically and continuously, independent of actual user participation. To confirm these suspicions, cybersecurity expert Clément Domingo, cited by Le Parisien, created a bot that allowed him to vote 100 times in less than a second. “I managed to vote 100 times in less than a second,” Domingo stated, exposing the fragility and lack of reliability of the platform hosting the petition.

This scenario casts a shadow of doubt over the true extent of the popular backlash against Mbappé. Despite the digital manipulation of the numbers, the reality is that the tension surrounding the French international in the dressing room of Real Madrid is palpable. Internal sources point to an explosive environment, with confrontations among players and a climate of instability that threatens to destabilize the team at crucial moments of the season.

Kylian Mbappé, one of the most high-profile names in world football, finds himself caught in a storm that goes far beyond the pitch. The pressure from fans, amplified by these petitions – whether genuine or not – and the troubled atmosphere within the Spanish club, raise questions about the forward’s future at Santiago Bernabéu.

This controversy raises important questions about the authenticity of online campaigns and the real impact they can have on players’ careers and club dynamics. With Real Madrid going through a delicate phase, Mbappé’s situation is set to be one of the hottest and most discussed topics in the coming days in the world of international football.

This article first appeared on Apito Final.