Between the coronavirus epidemic and the questions of racism raised by the death of George Floyd in the United States, athletes have had the opportunity to make known their opinions on several social issues for several weeks. However, this commitment sometimes gives rise to negative comments.
Today, athletes are expressing themselves more and more on social issues: racism, Covid-19 and confinement, on everything. You have to be careful, you can't push them to have an opinion on everything that's going on in the world.
We discover our athletes as citizens. Yes, they can have opinions, and engage directly beyond traditional charities. Rugby players have been seen to lend a helping hand to hospital staff at the height of the pandemic. Today we see a lot of sportsmen kneeling to ask for justice for George Floyd. And what is very new is that an organization like FIFA encourages footballers to make these gestures whereas until then it prohibited any political expression in the broad sense on the ground. This is a positive change, athletes are no longer afraid to express themselves.
Not so long ago, to talk about racism for example, Lilian Thuram was almost the only interlocutor. Otherwise it was mouth sewn for the most part. It is very good that we feel them invested, that we realize that they are not in their ivory tower to be concerned only with their results.
But neither would I want them to feel obliged to have an opinion on everything and to proclaim it urbi et orbi. This is the problem today, we have to have an opinion on all subjects, and when you are a sportswoman or a renowned sportsman, as your voice carries, we do not leave you the choice, it is necessary s 'Express.
In addition, whatever the position of the athletes, they are always criticized.
They are losers every time. If they do not give their opinion, they are criticized for not being interested in the low world, and if they express themselves, it is not going either. After the death of George Floyd, Lewis Hamilton sharply criticized his colleagues in Formula 1 for their silence. Charles Leclerc apologized, explaining that he was not necessarily legitimate to speak. I fully understand that Lewis Hamilton wants to talk about the huge problem of lack of diversity in F1. But I'm not sure that forcing others to speak out is a good method.
Speaking at any cost, this brings boxer Tony Yoka to encourage the demonstrators to burn everything. By dint of feeling obliged to intervene, athletes can slip. And then it never works. When Kylian Mbappé published a post after the death of George Floyd, the reactions were: "And France then, you forgot that you come from Bondy?". Afterwards he published a drawing on police violence in France. And there "you mix everything, stay in your place". Frankly, there is something to go crazy about.
What if we let them rather express themselves on what they want, without seeking to have their opinion on everything and without necessarily making them opinion leaders? Kylian Mbappé is a citizen, he has the right to have an opinion, fortunately. But we can't ask him to be our 21st century Emile Zola either.