Politics also invites itself on the football fields. On Wednesday September 28, deputies and former professional players like Sonny Anderson or Christian Karembeu must take part in a football match, the proceeds of which will be donated to the “e-Enfance” association, which fights against school bullying and cyberbullying, with the national number 30 18.
But on the eve of the meeting held at the Emile Anthoine stadium, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, deputies La France insoumise (FI) and PS decided to boycott the meeting to protest against the presence of deputies from the National Rally (RN), leading to cascading reactions from other parties. And posing, once again, the question of the normalization of the far-right party. Anyway, the game will take place. According to Pierre-Henri Dumont, one of the three captains of the team, the boycott does not concern more than ten deputies, out of 34 registered. Franceinfo summarizes this political-football controversy in five acts.
1Left-wing deputies decide to boycott the match to protest against the presence of the RN
Ultimately, no. Tuesday, September 27, The Parisian reveals that the deputies of LFI decide to leave their crampons in the locker room to protest against the presence of four deputies of the National Rally, including Philippe Ballard and Julien Odoul. A first for the French team of deputies, who, until now, did not welcome far-right parliamentarians.
Assembly French football team. The composition that you won’t see 😉 @the Parisian pic.twitter.com/oGmYpy8aCk
—Marcelo Wesfreid (@mwesfreid) September 28, 2022
“The National Rally wanted to make this match, initially dedicated to the service of a good cause, an object of political recovery, aiming to affirm its alleged ‘normalization'”, justifies LFI in a press release on Tuesday. The party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon announces that the elected officials will finance the association directly.
On the side of the PS, one of the three captains of the team, the socialist Marietta Karamanli, had initially confirmed her presence with the Parisian. “I intend to be vigilant, with my colleagues, of the behavior of the players and careful that this participation is not a platform and that no offensive, discriminatory, racist or sexist remarks or behavior are made or spoken”, she nevertheless warned. But, finally, the socialists followed in the footsteps of their Nupes allies and announced, in turn, the boycott of this sporting event. “Socialist and related deputies refuse this trivialization of the far right”they wrote in a press release.
2Aurore Bergé, the president of Renaissance, recommends to her group not to play
A few hours later, another twist. This time, it is the president of the Renaissance group, Aurore Bergé, who asks her troops in person “not to participate in a match that will result in a ‘team photo'”. Gold, “we don’t play in the same team. Neither extreme right nor extreme left”she wrote in a message relayed by AFP.
“We don’t choose the composition of the Assembly but we choose who we team up with.”
Aurore Bergé, president of the Renaissance groupat franceinfo
3Some Renaissance deputies maintain their wish to play this match
But the Bergé line is not followed by all Renaissance players. If some confirm to franceinfo that they will not participate, like Benjamin Haddad or Marc Ferracci, others will be on the ground on Wednesday evening. “In this presidential majority, we are not clumsy deputies”explains the deputy of Yvelines Karl Olive to franceinfo. “What right, what legitimacy can La France insoumise have to give us the camp of good, the camp of evil and why not next time ask for the religions of the players?”he continues.
“The LFI and the PS did not have the same choosy when RNs played in the rugby team. It was probably less media so no political coup possible”adds the deputy of the MoDem Erwan Balanant, who will put on the jersey well without “pat on the back of the RN”. Louis Aliot (RN) and Alexis Corbière (LFI) indeed played together in the parliamentary XV. “I do not believe that we normalize RN deputies when we play a charity football match, no one shares their ideas, but we fight them politically in the hemicycle”adds the deputy Renaissance Stéphane Buchou, who will not be on the ground Wednesday evening but for questions of agenda.
4Marine Le Pen deplores “hate, all the time”
Guest of RTL on Wednesday morning, Marine Le Pen reacted strongly to this controversy. “It says a lot about these people. In reality, it’s hate all the time, everywhere, fighting all the time”she criticizes. “They go against one of the great values of sport which is that sport, precisely, is the place where you don’t do politics”she adds, convinced that the groups calling for not participating in this match will be “judged harshly by the French”.
5The controversy bounces back to the government
Ministers are also wondering about the position to take on the subject. If the RN sits in numbers in the Assembly, “That doesn’t mean we have to participate in their desire to normalize”, urges the government spokesperson on Cnews. Olivier Véran nevertheless recognizes a “ambivalence” to boycott this game: “By telling you that I will not play, I participate in the phenomenon which consists in raising the feeling that they are ostracized, that they are victims of the system, etc.”he develops.
Questioned on Sud Radio, the Minister of Solidarity, Jean-Christophe Combe, moreover regrets this boycott which “makes you kinda nice today” the 89 deputies of the RN. “I don’t play football but I think it’s not the right way to fight the ideas of the RN”, it is “a bad example, a bad fight to lead”. Never had a football match been so politically controversial.