Two days before the French team’s match against Israel, Thursday in the League of Nations (8:45 p.m.), Ibrahima Konaté was questioned about the conflicts in the Middle East. The opportunity for the defender of the Blues to distill a message of peace.
A match with particular resonance. Thursday, during the League of Nations, the French team will challenge Israel in Budapest (8:45 p.m.). The match is relocated to Hungary because of the armed conflict in which Israel is involved, at war against Hamas for a year now. For several days, Israel has also been in open conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Present at a press conference this Tuesday, Ibrahima Konaté was questioned about this serious news. “We are here to play football, we don’t look at who we are playing against. But it is certain that what is happening in the world does not leave us indifferent. What we see on social networks is abominable. I don’t even have the words to describe the horror we see,” said the Blues defender.
Konaté worried about the new generation
In a long speech, Ibrahima Konaté said he was very concerned about the repercussions on young people. “The people I worry about the most are young people, the new generation. Imagine children opening their phone, an 8 or 10 year old coming across videos with children and adults being decapitated… Imagine the impact that this can have psychologically on these people. So I am very worried about them. And I am very worried about the people who are suffering today in the world. Fighting terrorism is one thing. But the civilians who had nothing to do with it and who are being killed en masse… I don’t have the words to describe it and it hurts me.”
The 2022 world vice-champion then took the opportunity to convey a message of peace. “What we want is just peace in the world. It’s something that is almost impossible to live with today but that’s really what we want. If we can help, through our behavior, our words, the kindness we can have with each other, to calm the hearts of the people around us… Beyond religion, beyond conflicts, we are human beings. the same limbs, we have different skin colors, but we have blood and general functionality that are the same If we can just remember that, that life is very short and we just have to. be happy with the people around us, I think we would already live in a better world,” Konaté concluded.
