The main group of French supporters regrets having been prevented from deploying a banner during the France-Kazakhstan meeting, Saturday, November 13, at the Parc des Princes. The Irresistibles French wanted to express their opposition to the hypothesis of a World Cup every two years, which Fifa defends.
“# No2YearWorldCup“, that is “no to a World Cup every two years“, was it written on this banner, finally unrolled near the stadium after the qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup won 8-0 by France.
“Gianni Infantino (the president of Fifa, present in Paris for the match, editor’s note) did not want to see her at the Parc des Princes“, regretted the IFs on Twitter, in the caption of a photo of the banner.”There was nothing mean or insulting, we just wanted the voices of the supporters to be expressed“, explained to AFP a spokesperson for the group, Fabien Bonnel, regretting”a panic completely meaningless“from the security services of the Parc des Princes on Saturday evening.
# No2YearsWorldCup
Gianni Infantino did not want to see her at the Parc des Princes this evening, causing security around us to panic.
We therefore suggest that you share this photo so that this message is disseminated more than if it had been released at the stadium.
We count on you pic.twitter.com/aJp6kecZE9– (@IF_Supporters) November 13, 2021
They held up the banner during the match and the group of supporters picked it up after the match. “Our freedom of expression in a stadium has been called into question, when it could have happened without a stir. If it bothers that much, we must talk about it”, continued the spokesperson.
The hashtag “# No2YearWorldCup” was launched in September by Football Supporters Europe (FSE), a network of groups of national team supporters opposed to the establishment of a biennial World Cup. Currently, the World Cup is held every four years.
The French Irresistibles hardly ever take a position on political or societal issues. But 97% of their members took a stand against this project, during an internal consultation. This project, carried by Fifa, aroused an outcry from players and coaches, already faced with an overloaded schedule.
In France, Didier Deschamps was reserved vis-à-vis a reform of the World Cup which would give “the feeling of trivializing it“. Unlike the coach, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët, declared at the beginning of October that he had “no opposition” principle about it. Fifa is organizing a virtual world summit on December 20 on the issue, but without a vote.