Aware that their word is likely to have an echo in the French suburbs where football is omnipresent, the players of the France team launched, on Friday June 30, an appeal to put an end to the riots which have shaken the country since the death , Tuesday, young Nahel M., killed by a policeman during a traffic check.
“The time of violence must end to give way to that of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction”, they urge in a long text relayed in the evening by the captain of the Blues Kylian Mbappé on his Twitter account.
The players, saying they are “marked and shocked by the brutal death of young Nahel”, launch a “call for appeasement, awareness and accountability”, ensuring that violence must give way to “other peaceful and constructive ways of expressing oneself”.
Clashes with the police and damage have shaken many neighborhoods and city centers since the death on Tuesday of young Nahel, killed by a police officer during a traffic check. “Since this tragic event, we have witnessed the expression of popular anger, the substance of which we understand, but the form of which we cannot endorse”, write the players of the France team in the text, shared on their accounts personal.
Didier Deschamps salutes the initiative of the players
The Blues say they share “these feelings of pain and sadness”, “but to this suffering is added that of assisting helplessly in a real process of self-destruction”. “It is your property that you are destroying, your neighborhoods, your cities, your places of fulfillment and proximity”, lament the players, who recall that “many of [them]” are “from” “working-class neighborhoods” .
“In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent and our civic conscience urges us to call for appeasement, awareness and accountability. According to them, “there are other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself. This is where our energies and thoughts must be focused.”
In a separate message, sent to followers of the France team, coach Didier Deschamps “welcomed” the initiative of the players. “My staff and I associate [with it],” he said. “We also have a thought for Nahel’s family. However, without wanting to give lessons to anyone, I have the deep conviction that violence has never solved anything. I hope with all my heart that the situation will calm down, “said the boss of the vice-world champions.
The president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, also welcomed on Twitter the call for calm launched by the Blues. “Footballers and Citizens,” he wrote.
