The National Rally (RN) deputy for Yonne, Julien Odoul, sent a letter on Tuesday to the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Philippe Diallo, suggesting that he move the football match counting for the League of Nations between France and Israel, from the Stade de France in Corsica, following threats from “pro-Palestinian activists and far-left elected officials”.
“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,” he wrote.
“Indeed, Corsica offers optimal security conditions (…) and the sports infrastructures are perfectly adapted to host this confrontation considered to be high risk,” continued the MP. “Then this choice would take on historical symbolism” since “under the Occupation (…), Corsica, nicknamed the Island of the Righteous”, refused to hand over its “citizens of the Jewish faith”, he recalled. According to him, it would also be an opportunity “to promote the Corsican Community which would welcome the Blues for the first time”. “It would be intolerable if this poster became the scene of violent excesses (…) which would humiliate our country internationally.”
For several weeks, many anti-Israeli activists, including several far-left elected officials, have sought to prevent the meeting from taking place and have called for unrest to disrupt it. The anti-Zionist collective “Stop Genocide” notably occupied the premises of the FFF, demanding the pure and simple cancellation of the match. The LFI Louis Boyard, for his part, called for the exclusion of Israel from any official competition while another rebel, Thomas Portes, demanded the exclusion by FIFA and the suspension of the Israeli football federation.
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