In 2020, French footballers have their say
Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé, two players from the France team who have not hesitated to take a stand this year on political or social issues.
AFP - BERTRAND GUAY
Text by: Eric Mamruth
5 mins
Many French footballers have expressed their opinions this year on political or societal issues.
From Antoine Griezmann to Kylian Mbappé via Marcus Thuram or Presnel Kimpembe, there have been many examples this year.
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2020 will truly have been the year of the committed footballer.
To denounce racism and police violence in particular last May during
the death of Georges Floyd
in the United States or last month after the beating in Paris
of Michel Zecler.
Many footballers, and athletes in general, did not hesitate to express their emotion and their dismay.
Encouraged in this by the example given recently by American sportsmen.
Confirmation with one of the founders of the Sport-Business Observatory, Vincent Chaudel.
“
For me, the tipping point is
Colin Kaepernick
for his commitment to the cause of police violence in America around the African-American population.
And there with the
Black Lives Matter
, basketball players like Lebron James, who were ready to strike.
This uninhibited a lot of things
.
"
"
A role to play in society
"
An uninhibited, liberated word, directly transmitted by the athlete to his audience via social networks and their enormous sounding board.
“
Today, athletes know they have a role to play in society.
They have become real brands with communities of millions of fans following them.
They are aware of the weight they can have
”, explains Bruno Fraioli, journalist specializing in sports economics.
Dying for having wanted to save: Unacceptable violence
Let us not let violence win, whatever its form.
My condolences to the families of the victims.
👮♂️🙏🏽🕊.
- Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) December 23, 2020
Kylian Mbappé thus paid tribute via twitter to the
three gendarmes killed
in the Puy de Dôme.
As for his sidekick in Blue, Antoine Griezmann who has more than 7 million followers, he caused a sensation recently by announcing that he was breaking his partnership with the powerful
Chinese brand Huawei in order
to defend the rights of the
Uighur Muslim minority
.
A strong, committed, even risky act for its image and popularity?
Not really according to Bruno Fraioli.
“In the
end, this risk-taking is not that important.
Few athletes take political positions.
The most divisive are mainly positions taken on societal subjects: the fight against racism or parity between the sexes, for example
.
"
"
The data is changing
"
The voice of athletes is therefore more and more essential in the media but now also in the field.
The phenomenon materialized on December 8 at Parc des Princes during the Champions League match between
Paris SG and Turkish club Basaksehir
.
Following a racist incident of which Cameroonian coach Achille Webo was the victim, players from both camps refused to continue the game.
A great first in the history of football because until then the players did not dare to revolt.
“
We saw in the stadiums in Spain, in Italy, people did not have this power
, explains Achille Webo.
They are the referees, the judges.
And your leaders tell you to continue playing: "otherwise we will have economic sanctions".
Today, with what happened on December 8th, the data is changing.
These are the main actors who say: '' we too have the full powers to say basta, we do not want to continue ''
.
"
NO ❌✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/Z3WIbgCFgi
- Presnel Kimpembe (@ kimpembe_3) December 8, 2020
More and more, in stadiums, we see players displaying their opinions either via messages on their t-shirts, or by kneeling on the ground, head bowed, thus repeating the gesture initiated by Colin Kaepernick, the football player. American evoked.
Most of the time anti-racist expressions, tolerated by FIFA, which nevertheless excludes in its regulations prohibiting any message of a political or religious nature on the pitch.
This is also the case of the International Olympic Committee which, via its charter, prohibits any kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda on the sites of the Games.
This is to preserve the neutrality of sport.
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