Football and politics, the story of a passing game
VSThis is, of course, only a football story, but it tells a little about our shared history. France Télévisions journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi realized that the French are fueled by two great popular passions: football and politics. He saw in our collective imagination what Charles de Gaulle and Michel Platini have in common, Jacques Chirac and Didier Deschamps, Nicolas Sarkozy and Franck Ribery, Francois Hollande and Hugo Lloris, Emmanuel Macron and Kylian Mbappe. .
All say a period, a style, a direct connection with the French. They evoke nostalgia, joy and drama. It’s just football, but we’re already talking about these epic battles written down in ancient chronology. It’s 1998 Austerlitz! 2018, Verdun! A cold is behind me. The Franco-German commemoration in Seville, when two suicide bombers detonated their bombs in the Stade de France on November 13, 2015, sheds tears as France faces Germany.
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Chirac to Jacquet: “I give you this decoration… And dead for fools! »
In an interesting documentary Blues and ElyseeActors and experts in the field of sports and politics explain all these events, broadcast on France 5 on Sunday evening. A big fan of football and politics himself, Mohammad Bouhafsi paid tribute to Emmanuel Macron, Francois Hollande, Michel Platini, Jacques Vendroux, Michel Drucker, Olivier Giroud, Lilian Thuram… And from there comes a breathtaking document, here are his advantages. Sports are sometimes more valuable than what is played on the field.
Jacques Chirac is no longer there to commemorate another celebration of the federation, the victory of the World Cup in 1998. Shortly before the start of the competition, the president saw the skepticism of the media elite against the head coach’s life. Like when Aimé Jacquet set out to conquer the Elysée against Edouard Balladur in 1995. When he was awarded the Legion of Honor after the Blues’ victory, Chirac whispered in Jacquet’s ear: “I give you this… And dead for fools! »
Three years later, in 2001, France’s “black-blanc-beur” myth evaporated wildly after Algerian supporters, mostly French, booed for the Marseillaise at the Stade de France. Former sports minister, communist Marie-Georges Buffet, condemns the “illusion” of egalitarian France: “This France was not in the application of rights. Lionel Jospin’s colleague at Matignon, Manuel Valls, regrets that the prime minister did not leave the stands of the Stade de France at this moment. Lilian Thuram says she stayed on the lawn to lecture young supporters: “You’re shooting yourself in the foot! »
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Hollande smiles: “Euro 2016 made it possible to win 2018
Then there were the Sarkozy years, the least rosy years for the Blues, especially because of the famous players’ strike in South Africa. Sarkozy, who is fond of football, politicizes things, sees in this team “a bunch of immature bosses”, as his minister Roseline Bachelet said. Undeterred, the president offers Lilian Thuram, who opposed him after the “Kärcher” issue, to become minister responsible for diversity. “I disagreed with him on that very point,” says Thuram.
Finally, we observe from afar the little rivalry between Hollande and Macron. The former hosted the Euro final in 2016; the other became the world champion two years later. “The president always works for his successor. Euro 2016 made it possible to win 2018,” Hollande smiled. ” That’s right ! Macron answered. We always rely on what was seen before us. And 2016 [il était ministre de l’Économie de Hollande, NDLR] He prepared 2018 in football, but also in many things of economic life…”
Blues and ElyseeFilm by Mohamed Bouhafsi, Sunday 20 November at 20:55 on France 5.
