The national football team is a potentially more dangerous foe than France's embattled mainstream politicians, even though the extreme right is likely to gain power soon.
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| Macron and Mbappe |
Celebrities from the nation's renowned Les Bleus have spoken out to support the Fifth Republic's defences and urged people to cast ballots in a pivotal snap election campaign that is happening concurrently with the men's European Championship this summer.
Winner of the 2018 Word Cup, France is considered one of the top contenders to win the tournament that kicked off in Germany last week, but its players have their eyes on what’s happening off the field too, with tensions high at home ahead of a parliamentary vote that could usher in unprecedented political change.
“The extremes are at the gates of power,” captain and star forward Kylian Mbappe said in a news conference on the eve of France’s opening game against Austria on Monday.
Mbappe, 25, appealed to the younger generation of voters, saying the county was at a “crucial” moment.
“I don’t want to represent a country that doesn’t correspond to my values, or our values,” said Mbappe.
The remarks reflect the nation's rising anxiety prior to the June 30 and July 7 elections, which President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly called following the extreme right's victory in the European legislative elections.
France is experiencing political unrest as a result of the campaign, which is happening at a time when the nation would have been preoccupied with the European tournament and the approaching Olympics in Paris.
According to opinion surveys, the National Rally (RN), a far-right anti-immigration party, may win for the first time in the history of the nation.
Mbappe was not the only French player speaking out.
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| French supporters during the team's victory against Austria earlier this week. |
His teammate Marcus Thuram, the son of legendary French soccer player and anti-racism advocate Lilian Thuram, was even more direct. He called last week for French voters to “fight daily” to prevent the party from gaining power.
French winger Ousmane Dembélé last week also urged his compatriots to mobilize to vote, saying “the alarm bell” has been sounded.
“Generally speaking, it’s been very rare for French soccer players to speak out in this way,” said Tom Williams, a French soccer expert and the author of “Va-Va-Voom: The Modern History of French Football.”
“I think particularly the fact that Marcus Thuram specifically encouraged people not to vote for RN, that’s pretty unique in the recent history of French football,” said Williams.
The team is often upheld as a symbol of multiculturalism in France, boasting players who are Black, Arab or Muslim, and often come from former French colonies in the Caribbean and Africa.
Among them is Mbappe, who was up in the outskirts of Paris but whose mother is from Algeria and whose father is from Cameroon.
According to Williams, the 1998 squad that took home the nation's first World Cup championship was hailed as an example of harmony and variety and became known as the "rainbow team," consisting of players from all across the French diaspora. According to him, it came to represent "what France might look like if people could overlook their differences."
Professor Rainbow Murray, a French political specialist, stated that because of this image, the team is frequently targeted by the extreme right, which queries the French language proficiency of the team's non-white players and singles out those who don't sing the entire national anthem.
The players’ comments sparked backlash from the party’s young figurehead. Jordan Bardella criticized Mbappe on Tuesday as he urged “respect” for everyone’s vote and appeared to take a dig at the star’s privileged position.
“When you’re lucky enough to have a very, very big salary, when you are a multimillionaire ... then I’m a little embarrassed to see these athletes ... give lessons to people who can no longer make ends meet,” Bardella said.
Party spokesperson Julien Odoul also responded to Thuram’s comments on X, saying he was fed up with “these privileged lesson-givers.”
But the French team is hugely popular with the French public, especially when it does well, Murray said. Players like Mbappe and Thuram are “aware of their voice and try to use it to defend the country against a party widely recognized as racist and xenophobic,” she added.
The French soccer federation defended the players’ right to express themselves freely but also called for the national team’s “neutrality” to be respected, saying the players should not be pressured or used for political purposes.
France plays again later Friday, against the Netherlands. Mbappe, who broke his nose in Monday’s game, looks set to play after returning to training in a protective mask adorned with the red, white and blue of the French tricolor.