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Published on June 17, 2024 at 4:50 p.m. by
Day Dayan
After Kylian Mbappé spoke out regarding the legislative elections in France, Unai Simon, Spain’s goalkeeper, took a stand against his statements.
Despite the start of theEURO 2024, political debates dominate the French media. Indeed, with the European and legislative elections scheduled for the end of the month, political unrest is at its height.
Players of the French team, such as Marcus Thuram, Ousmane Dembélé, Olivier Giroud And Kylian Mbappéspoke about the elections, encouraging the French to vote in response to an abstention rate above 45%. Thuram was particularly direct in calling for a barrier to the far right, while Mbappé simply asked citizens to vote to fight against the extremes. Although his words were more patriotic than sporting, the voice of the captain of the Blues resonated on the world stage. However, Unai Simongoalkeeper of the Spanish team, expressed his disagreement with the political statements of players like Mbappé.
“(Players) should leave politics to others. Kylian (Mbappé) is a player who has a lot of influence in the world and in society. Players in general, we have a lot of influence. But it’s a political subject, and I think we have a tendency to talk about certain subjects that I don’t know if we should talk about.“
A discipline often mixed with politics
Unai Simon’s words are clear: players should not speak out on politics. This position is often shared by many football fans, who believe that the sport should remain purely a field of entertainment and competition. However, History shows that football has always been mixed with politics.
We can think about the match France vs Algeria 2001, which was supposed to symbolize reconciliation between the two countries. Or to an older example, Argentina v England in the 1986 World Cup, a match played shortly after the Falklands War and fraught with political and emotional significance.
Football is the most popular sport in the world. The players are true stars and icons in their countries. Their voices are often heard much more than those of politicians. It is for this reason that players are often asked to take part in political or social debates. Even though Unai Simon prefers that players focus solely on the sport, it is unrealistic to prevent them from speaking out when their countries are going through important times.
