National Rally deputy Julien Odoul wrote to the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) to suggest organizing the France-Israel match in Corsica. According to the far-right parliamentarian, “this sporting meeting is the subject of pressure, demonstrations and threats from pro-Palestinian activists and far-left elected officials.”
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Organize the France-Israel football match in Corsica.
The proposal – surprising – comes from the National Rally deputy, Julien Odoul. In a letter addressed to the president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, the elected representative of the third constituency of Yonne writes that “this sporting event is the subject of pressure, demonstrations and threats from pro-Palestinian activists and far-left elected officials”.
The match, which counts for the fifth day of Group 2 of the UEFA Nations League, is scheduled to take place on November 14 at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis. “Faced with the proven risk of harm to public security, particularly in Seine-Saint-Denis, in a department where certain neighborhoods are blighted by Islamism and contaminated by hatred of Jews, I wanted to submit to you the proposal to relocate the France-Israel match to Corsica”says Julien Odoul.
And to develop: “Indeed, Corsica offers optimal security conditions and would make it possible to maintain a full number of spectators. As such, sports infrastructures, such as the Michel-Moretti or Ange-Casanova stadiums in Ajaccio, or the Armand-Cesari stadium in Bastia, are perfectly suited to hosting this confrontation considered “high risk”.”
In his letter, Julien Odoul refers in particular to the occupation of the premises of the French Football Federation on November 4 by pro-Palestinian activists. The latter demanded the cancellation of the match between the two teams.
“Because it would be intolerable for this poster to become the scene of violent excesses which would tarnish the image of French football and humiliate our country internationally, I solemnly ask you to consider the relocation of this match between the team of France and the Israeli team in Corsica where all the criteria in favor of the safety of players, supporters and law enforcement are met. concludes the RN deputy in his missive.
According to Julien Odoul, organize this match on the island “would take on historical and memorial symbolism”.
“More precisely, he indicates, under the Occupation, while the Vichy regime engaged in mass arrests and deportations of Jewish populations, Corsica, nicknamed the Island of the Righteous as a result, distinguished itself by stubbornly refusing to hand over its citizens of Jewish faith “.
Julien Odoul, deputy of the National Rally.
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© JC Tardivon – maxPPP
In his letter, the far-right parliamentarian “rareminds that no official match of the French team has ever taken place in Corsica”. “It would therefore be an unprecedented opportunity to promote the Corsican Community which would welcome the “Blues” for the first time.“, continues the MP who is not afraid of “overflows” if the match took place in Ajaccio or Bastia.
“I think this is a minor risk compared to what would happen on the continent and particularly in the Île-de-France region.Francehe told us this Wednesday late morning. I think none of this would happen in Corsica. And that's why I propose to the French Football Federation to relocate this match which is unfortunately high risk givene the political situation in our country.”
Julien Odoul specifies that he will send his letter to the president of the Executive Council of Corsica.
Regarding the possibility of the match being relocated to the island, this is qualified “infeasible” by a source close to the case. “This is not possible particularly due to issues related to ticketing with tickets which are already on sale for the match at the Stade de France.”.
In addition, UEFA, which organizes the Nations League competition in which this match is part, must also validate the facilities and other sports infrastructure well in advance.
It therefore seems almost impossible to see Mbappé, Maignan and Dembélé set foot on the pitch of a Corsican stadium in the coming weeks.
