Mbappe And Thuram: French Footballers Speak Out Against Far-Right Ahead Of Elections

In a press conference for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro tournament in Germany, France forward Marcus Thuram made an unusual but not unexpected remark, calling upon the public to “fight” against the nationalist far-right party, the National Rally (RN), from coming to power in the snap parliamentary elections, which will be held in June.

Thuram, son of former France right-back and vocal advocate of anti-racism Lilian Thuram, described the situation as a “sad reality.” When asked about National Rally’s Marine Le Pen and her potential victory, Thuram said, “As Ousmane (Dembele) said, we must tell everyone to go and vote. We all need to fight daily so that this doesn’t happen and that the National Rally does not succeed.”

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Interestingly, Thuram’s father has had a history of disagreements with the party and its former leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who is also Marine’s father.

Echoing a similar sentiment, France captain and fellow teammate Kylian Mbappe urged the youth to vote “against the extremists.” Unlike Thuram, Mbappe refrained from making direct references to political leaders or parties. He said, “We have an opportunity to choose the future of the country, we have to emphasise the importance of the task. Today we can all see that extremists are very close to winning power, and we have the opportunity to choose the future of our country.”

Following the comments made by Mbappe, the National Rally criticised the star footballer and asked him to “show a little restraint.” Soon, a debate about the extent to which professional sportspersons should get involved in politics has been ongoing in the country.

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However, the French footballers aren’t the only ones speaking against the far-right. On June 16, several sports figures from the country, such as track-and-field star Marie-Jose Perec, former tennis personalities Yannick Noah, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, urged fellow French folks to vote against the far-right in sports daily l’Equipe. Coach of the French Olympic team and former soccer star Thierry Henry also urged voters to “block the extremes.”

Earlier this month, after Marine’s RN won France’s European elections, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap parliamentary election.

Marine’s National Rally has been moving forward, leaving Macron’s Renaissance party, part of the Besoin d’Europe alliance, underperforming in the elections. Voting in France will be held on June 30 and July 7.