The Blues above ground, focused on their training in Germany before the Euro and not concerned by the next legislative elections? All false. If the national participation rate during the vote on June 30 and July 7 was at the level of proxy vote requests from the French selection, it would exceed… 85%. Because the members of the French consulate who came to the Hôtel des Bleus to register proxy voting requests are not idle.
Between the players and the technical staff, the French delegation exceeds 45 people. And in the end, nearly forty have already, or will, establish a voting proxy. The process is very simple and was initiated by the head of security for the Blues, police commander Mohamed Sanadji. All players received the Internet link allowing them to establish a voting proxy.
“We would be surprised to see a single player slip an RN slip”
After a few clicks, they received a number which they then transmitted to a member of the French consulate responsible for validating their identity and registering their request. “Between those who have already taken the steps via the “France Identity” application which allows you to avoid having your request validated at a police station, and all the others, I can tell you that the players are very good citizens”, slips a representative of the French Federation. »
But we are not really surprised by this influx of proxies. For the vote in the European elections, a majority of players had already voted by proxy. “It was not as much as for the next legislative elections but well above the national average,” we specify internally.
The possibility of voting by proxy while selected for the French team has existed for years. So, when the Blues are in Clairefontaine, it is the gendarmes who come to register their requests. The new generation of French players is also described as very receptive to the idea of participating in electoral votes.
It seems more than clear that the resurgence of proxy can be read as a desire to block the arrival of the National Rally in power. “We have guys from both the left and the right but we would be surprised to see a single player or staff member slip in an RN slip,” notes an observer. Clearly, these Blues will not vote blank.
Of course, neither player has taken a public stance. But some words are quite clear. Like those of Ousmane Dembélé at a press point in Paderborn this Thursday: “It’s not that I don’t want to position myself, but given the situation in France, I think that the alarm bells have been sounded, explains the PSG striker. I think we need to mobilize to vote. I looked at the 1 p.m. news and saw that one in two French people did not vote. The legislative elections are coming, the Federation will put something in place so that we can vote by proxy. » Political discussions are not on the meal menu but it is undeniable: the current situation concerns Didier Deschamps’ players.
