France-Israel: “Let this match not take place!” LFI deputy Louis Boyard protests against the meeting of the Blues, Bruno Retailleau responds to him

Insoumis MP Louis Boyard requested, on Friday, the cancellation of the France-Israel football match, scheduled for November 14 at the Stade de France. In response, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, affirmed that holding the meeting would be “a question of principle”, while leaving the possibility of a reduction in reception capacity.

“I want this match not to take place,” Mr. Boyard declared on Sud Radio, supporting a petition calling for the cancellation of this League of Nations match. While the war which has raged since October 7, 2023 in the Gaza Strip has extended to Lebanon, where Israel has been carrying out massive airstrikes against the Islamist Hezbollah movement since September 23, Mr. Boyard cited “the Article 4 of the FIFA statutes which explains that universal human rights must be respected.

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The MP also recalled that the International Federation had “sometimes applied sanctions to other countries”, citing examples such as Russia, Belarus or South Africa. “But on the other hand, when it comes to the policy of the Israeli government, we do absolutely nothing,” he denounced, calling for “an end to double standards,” in reference to to the “42,000 deaths” (43,204 to date, according to the Hamas government) recorded in Gaza.

For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, declared on BFMTV-RMC that the meeting would be held in Saint-Denis, “and we will of course adapt the security system”. The prefect of police, Laurent Nuñez, promised two weeks ago “an extremely reinforced security system which will be of a very high level”, both “outside and inside the stadium”.

In this context, is the question of reducing the capacity of 80,000 spectators considered? “This is a point that we are currently studying,” admitted Mr. Retailleau. “But what I wanted is that we do not move, for example, to the Parc des Princes” – located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris – which has a capacity of 48,000 places, he said. added.

Criticizing LFI, which he accuses of wanting to “import the conflicts of the Middle East into our neighborhoods and into France”, Mr. Retailleau insisted on the fact that the smooth running of this meeting would be “a question of principle”. “We are in France and we must be able to enforce public order,” he insisted.

Green MP Sandrine Rousseau expressed reservations about the initiative of her colleague from the New Popular Front: “Really, I don't think it's a football match and I don't get into that,” said she declared on France 2.