The city of Paris will also ignore the FIFA World Cup in Qatar (November 20 - December 18) by refusing to install giant screens and fan zones in its streets for humanitarian and environmental reasons.

The French capital joins seven other cities that have made a similar announcement: Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, Nancy, Reims, Rodez and Strasbourg.

"For us, there was no question of setting up match broadcast areas for several reasons: the first is the conditions for organizing this World Cup, both in terms of the environment and the social aspect, the second, it is the temporality, the fact that it takes place in December", announced, Monday, October 3, to AFP the deputy in charge of Sport, Pierre Rabadan, for whom "this model of major events will against what [Paris] wants to organize".

>> To see: World-2022 in Qatar: should we boycott the competition?

Several mayors of large cities, all political colors combined, have not minced their words on Monday since the announcement made on Saturday by the socialist mayor of Lille Martine Aubry, who had described the event as "nonsense with regard to human rights , the environment and sport".

In Marseille, the socialist mayor Benoît Payan, at the head of a large left-wing and environmentalist coalition, judged that this competition had "gradually transformed into a human and environmental disaster, incompatible with the values ​​that we want to see carried through sport, especially football.

“Marseille, strongly attached to the values ​​of sharing and solidarity in sport, and committed to building a greener city, cannot contribute to the promotion of this 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar,” insisted the city in a press release.

"All humanitarian, ecological and sporting aberrations"

Among the reasons for this boycott include the treatment of immigrant workers and the number of deaths during the construction of the eight stadiums of the World Cup.

While the official death toll is only three, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported in a report that 50 workers died in workplace accidents in Qatar in 2020 and 500 were seriously injured, a figure that could be higher, according to her, due to shortcomings in the accident recording system.

>> To read: FIFA World Cup in Qatar: Fifa called on to compensate migrant workers

"I would really have the impression, if Bordeaux hosted these fan zones, of being an accomplice" of "this sporting event which represents all the humanitarian, ecological and sporting aberrations", declared for his part, Monday morning, the environmentalist mayor of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic.

The city of Nancy also pointed to the "shift" in "the use of air-conditioned stadiums during this World Cup (...) with the challenges of ecological transition" and called on "the organizers (...) to "seriously review the rules for awarding the next World Cups" in order to "integrate these issues" of "sobriety" and "respect for human rights".

"No screen will be put in place if France reaches the final"

For the mayor of Reims Arnaud Robinet (Horizons), "at a time when the public authorities are asking (...) to reduce (the) energy consumption, such installations would cause legitimate misunderstanding (...) for the 'one of the most controversial events in sports history'.

Rodez and Strasbourg also made similar decisions.

In addition to the question of human rights, Pierre Hurmic also refused to be "incoherent" in relation to the efforts requested of the population in terms of "energy sobriety".

"You cannot call your fellow citizens to sobriety and yourself be complicit in energy aberration of this nature," he said.

The environmental mayor, elected in 2020, clarified that his decision would have been the same if the World Cup had been played in the summer.

And "no screen will be put in place if France reaches the final", he said.

A month and a half before the start of the competition, Pierre Hurmic is convinced "that other mayors will make identical decisions in the days to come".

He also indicated that he would not watch the competition.

With AFP

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