Paris (AFP)
The French international of Paris SG Presnel Kimpembe defended himself on Saturday for having endorsed a message from the Russian star of mixed martial arts (MMA) Khabib Nurmagomedov on the offenses against Muslims by the defense of the right to the cartoon of the prophet Muhammad .
"I play sports, not politics. I don't speak Russian either. I strongly condemn terrorism, all forms of violence without any reservations, and all foul-smelling attempts at manipulation," the champion wrote on his Twitter account. of the world 2018.
According to screenshots posted on social networks, he "liked", that is to say liked, Nurmagomedov's post, before later removing his "like".
Kimpembe is not the only famous football player to have "liked" Nurmagomedov's message: his compatriots Karim Benzema, Mamadou Sakho and Tiémoué Bakayoko too, just like the Bosnian Miralem Pjanic.
The vice-president of the National Gathering and MEP Jordan Bardella reacted to Kimpembe's message by believing that he should no longer wear the jersey of the France team.
"No France Team for @ kimpembe_3, the one who likes jihadism on Instagram, who does not assume and also takes us for fools," he tweeted.
Originally from Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic of Russia, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who ended his career on October 25 after a 29th victory in as many fights, is followed by 25 million people on Instagram.
He posted a long message in Russian in which he regrets that "today, under the pretext of fighting for freedom of expression, the enemies of Islam (...) are trying to offend the feelings of hundreds of millions of believers around the world by drawing caricatures ".
"May Allah release His punishment on whoever infringes on the honor of the best of men, his prophet Muhammad", he concludes.
The day before, Nurmagomedov had published a photograph of French President Emmanuel Macron with a shoe print drawn on his face.
"May the Almighty disfigure this filth and all his followers who in the name of freedom of expression insult the faith of more than a billion and a half Muslims," he wrote in a message in Russian and Arabic.
"Believe me, these provocations will have serious consequences for them because the pious always have the last word," Khabib Nurmagomedov, 32, continued.
Emmanuel Macron defended the right to caricature in the name of freedom of expression, after the beheading on October 16 by an Islamist of a French teacher who had shown his students caricatures of the prophet of Islam.
These statements by the French president sparked demonstrations and a campaign to boycott French products in some Muslim countries.
© 2020 AFP