A difficult dilemma for deputies who are soccer fans. Despite the boycott of the World Cup by the left, the final between France and Argentina could change the situation. Several figures on the left have already announced that they will watch the game next Sunday night, far from criticizing Qatar’s environmental and social excesses.
“I hope to attend a good final and that we win it. Yesterday I attended a superb match,” explained Fabien Roussel, the head of the communists on BFMTV this Thursday, all smiling.
Unifying party and ball-loving deputies
His spokesman Ian Brossat will also be in front of his television on Sunday. The former presidential candidate, however, had a completely different speech before the World Cup.
This is how he had explained that he “found himself in the call” for the boycott of former soccer player Éric Cantona in France info last September, pointing in particular to the 6,500 workers who died on construction sites in Qatar to prepare for the World Cup.
Difficult for elected officials to do without support for a unifying event when more than 20 million French people watched the semi-final on Wednesday. The deputies are also the image of the country: great soccer fans for many of them. The Palais-Bourbon has thus had a football team for several decades, shaken at the beginning of the last school year by deputies who did not want to play with members of the National Rally.
“Not wanting to upset others”
On the benches of La France insoumise, the boycott is divided. If some will not see the event like the deputies Hadrien Clouet and Ugo Bernalicis -which he nevertheless confides to us “not wanting to upset others-, others will encourage the Blues like Éric Coquerel, the president of the Finance Committee, David Guiraud or Christophe Bex.
Alexis Corbière, one of the pillars of the movement, had however questioned Élisabeth Borne at the end of November about “the triple scandal” of the World Cup, denouncing in particular the “ecological scandal, with the heated outdoor stadiums and the planes come and go incessantly to transport the fans”. Asked about his intention to see -or not- the final, he did not answer our questions.
More than 160 flights operate every day during the competition to transport fans staying outside of Qatar during the World Cup.
“We are not necessarily all consistent but at least we have a chance: the party is not made during the debates in the Assembly. There, we can do it privately at home. It remains quite discreet as a change of foot”, smiles a still from La France insoumise.
“An institutional boycott, not a collective one”
On the benches of the Socialists, the heart wavers so much while Olivier Faure had spoken out very harshly against Qatar last summer, denouncing during the summer universities that under “every lawn” of the stadium, “there is a cemetery”: “that of workers forced”.
Some, like the head of the Socialist senators Patrick Kanner, pretend to honor their commitments.
“I have not seen a single game and I will follow it to the end. You cannot legitimize a country that has such scandalous practices. Money cannot justify everything”, replies the ex-Sports Minister François Hollande.
For his part, PS deputy Arthur Delaporte will follow the game well. “We have collectively called for an institutional boycott, not individually. We can have a political position while we have fun with the Cup”, assures the spokesman for the group in the Assembly.
Macron “assumes”
And point the finger at the presence of Emmanuel Macron this Wednesday night for the semifinal, like next Sunday in the middle of a corruption scandal. Four people were charged and jailed last Sunday for “corruption” in favor of Qatar. Among them, the vice president of the institution, dismissed from his position. “I fully assume my presence,” replied the tenant of the Elysée.
Source: BFM TV
