what impact for the positions taken by Kylian Mbappé and other athletes?

While Kylian Mbappé, captain of the French football team, urged the French on Sunday to “vote against the extremes” during the legislative elections, other athletes clearly called for blocking the National Rally.

The Blues face Austria on Monday June 17 for their first Euro football match. But on Sunday, Kylian Mbappé engaged in another match: that of the legislative elections. The Blues star has plunged into the political fray. And he did it with force. In his eyes, our country is “a crucial moment in its history”, circumstances much more important than a simple football match. Kylian Mbappé therefore called on the French in general, and young people in particular, to “vote against the extremes” which are “at the gates of power”. A calm, argued, thoughtful speech, the day after the intervention of striker Marcus Thuram. As a worthy son of his father, Lilian, 1998 world champion, he had urged “fight so that the RN does not pass”.

Kylian Mbappé did not explicitly cite the National Rally, he skillfully mentioned “the extremes”, as if to better appear above the fray, serving the interest of the nation. But its main target is the RN. The proof, he totally supports, he says, the words of Marcus Thuram and he highlights the need to defend “the values ​​of diversity, tolerance and respect” threatened by the extreme right. Before concluding, “I hope that we will still be proud to wear the French team jersey on July 7.”

The captain of the Blues hopes in any case that his “voice carries a maximum” among youth. At the same time, more than 160 other sports stars, from Yannick Noah to Marie-José Pérec, published in the newspaper the Team a call to mobilize against the far right. Kylian Mbappé’s speaking out is courageous because it can undermine his status as a unifying icon among part of public opinion.

He sows real embarrassment on the side of the RN. The affair brings back bad memories for this party. The anti-FN mobilization of 2002 of course and then, a previous Euro football, in 1996, where Jean-Marie Le Pen caused an outcry by accusing several players, including Zinédine Zidane, Marcel Desailly and Youri Djorkaeff of having “benefited from naturalizations of convenience”. So close to the goal and power, Marine Le Pen fears arguing with Kylian Mbappé. The day before, RN spokesperson Julien Odoul did not pull any punches in responding to Marcus Thuram: “Fed up with these privileged lesson-givers!” Players “privileged”, overpaid, a known refrain. However, the RN wants to spoil them more, it promises to exempt those under 30 from income tax. Football stars would be the first beneficiaries of this strange measure.