The message is support for Palestine and Lebanon. Image: Anadolu
A huge political tifo, deployed Wednesday evening before the Champions League match between Paris and Atlético de Madrid, raises many questions.
07.11.2024, 08:3907.11.2024, 09:15
A few minutes before the kick-off of the Champions League match between PSG and Atlético de Madrid (1-2), Wednesday evening at the Parc des Princes, a tarpaulin covering the entire stand was deployed in the Auteuil stand of the Parc des Princes.
We could see a mosque there with its minaret and the slogan “Free Palestine”. At the bottom left was a child with a flag of Lebanon and on the right was a man in a red keffiyeh and military jacket who one could imagine was a Palestinian fighter. The tifo was accompanied by a message written on a banner at the foot of the stand: “War on the ground but peace in the world”.
This choreography caused reactions and raised many questions. On RMC Sport first, where the journalist Daniel Riolo said he was disgusted: “It pissed me off, it’s not the time… Seeing that, frankly, it pissed me off (…) You’re making a explicit message of peace, you do not post a story where Israel does not exist and has disappeared. It’s actually a message of hate!”
The tifo video
Video: twitter
Thursday morning, it was the Minister of the Interior who spoke on “X” to demand accountability from the Parisian club.
“I ask PSG to explain itself and the clubs to ensure that politics does not damage sport, which must always remain a catalyst for unity. This tifo had no place in this stadium, and such messages are also prohibited by the regulations of the League and UEFA. If this happens again, we will have to consider banning tifos for clubs that do not enforce the rules.
But on social networks, we also find numerous messages welcoming the message deployed in the stands. “Congratulations to the supporters who held up a magnificent tifo during the PSG – Atlético Madrid match at the Parc des Princes,” wrote a user. “I’m not Parisian but what pride to see this tifo, well done guys,” writes another, while a third believes that it is the “best tifo of the year 2024 in Europe”.
In the hours, and perhaps the days to come, the subject will undoubtedly cause a lot of discussion in France and within PSG. The club reacted very quickly by claiming not to be aware of the entertainment that was planned in the stands:
“The club was not aware of the plan to display such a message. Paris Saint-Germain reminds that the Parc des Princes is – and must remain – a place of communion around a common passion for football and firmly opposes any message of a political nature in its stadium.
We will now have to see how UEFA, which prohibits in its regulations “messages of a political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature”, will react.
(jcz)
More sports articles
Show all articles
The legendary hockey club wishes to remedy its low success rate in faceoffs, a particular exercise which occurs between 50 and 60 times per match.
A surprise guest appeared on Monday on the ice of the CN Sports Complex, the training center of the Montreal Canadiens. For nearly 45 minutes, Marc Bureau, a former player of the club, led a development session on faceoffs, an area in which “the Canadian is far from dominating so far this season”points out the media RDSciting this statistic released Monday morning:
