Israel: strong words from Macron before the Blues match

A match like no other. For the last home meeting of the Blues in 2024, the France team welcomes Israel in the Nations League. A duel that is necessarily particular in view of the situation in the Middle East, more than a year after the Hamas attack in Israel and while the bombings continue on the Gaza Strip as well as the attacks in Lebanon. Emmanuel Macron, who will be present this evening in the aisles of the Stade de France for a match under high security, wanted to express himself in a statement sent to theAFP alongside the kick-off of this poster.

“We will not give in to this ill wind of anti-Semitism”

“We will not give in to anti-Semitism anywhere and violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail and neither will intimidation,” he first expressed, before add: “France is organizing a sporting, cultural, intellectual event that it intends to organize and that it wants to organize. We do this by protecting artists, athletes, intellectuals, by allowing everyone to experience these events. We do not “We will not give in to this bad wind of anti-Semitism that is blowing across the world.” This meeting has taken a completely different turn in the political class since last week's clashes in Amsterdam between Ajax supporters and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. As proof, many ministers will be present in the official stands as well as, normally, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande. However, if this poster fascinates the political class, it does not have the same effect on supporters of the Blues. While the security deployed will be more than substantial, the French Football Federation is not expecting more than 20,000 spectators in the 80,000 seats at the Stadium for what will surely represent the smallest attendance in the history of the Blues.

“We want to ensure that it remains a football match”

For his part, Didier Deschamps affirmed at a press conference that “no one can be insensitive to the heavy and heavy context”, the national coach then saying more about the preparation for this shock: “We made sure to prepare for this match as normally as possible, but obviously, throughout the France group, no one can be insensitive to the heavy and heavy context. We want to ensure that this remains a football match, despite everything. These are not environments in which. the players are used to their clubs. I'm going to use the usual word: adapt. We have to adapt and concentrate on what we have to do on the pitch and ensure our qualification for the quarter-finals of the League. nations.”

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