Friday, December 2, Antoine Griezmann, was expected at a press conference and it was not only about football. The player who plays at Atletico de Madrid was asked about a possible embarrassment to play a World Cup in Qatar, a country where homosexuality is liable to criminal prosecution.
“A little embarrassed? Yes and no. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, [les personnes LGBT+] know they will always have my support. But I’m a footballer, that’s my profession. My country calls me to play a competition, I come with pride. They have all my support, all my respect.”, said the 31-year-old father. Three years earlier, he had made remarks along the same lines. “Homophobia is not an opinion, but a crime. And now, if a player makes homophobic remarks on the pitch, I think I will stop the game”he said while making the cover of the magazine Stubborn.
Internet users have noted that the position of number 8 of the Blues contrasts with that of its captain, Hugo Lloris. The one who will soon break Lilian Thuram’s selection record had preferred him “stay within (one’s) (sports) framework”. Asked about the possibility of seeing him wear the rainbow armband (one love) representing inclusion, he replied: “When we welcome foreigners, we often want them to comply with our rules, to respect our culture. I will do the same in Qatar, quite simply. I can agree or not with their ideas. , but I have to show respect for that,” adding that there is“different causes which are laudable, which must be supported”.
Sunday, December 4, the Blues will cross paths with Poland for a place in the quarter-finals!
See also: Tunisia / France: the Antoine Griezmann scandal!
Adam Javal-Fauconnier