Focused on the Euro and concerned about the election. The captain of the French team Kylian Mbappé declared on Thursday that there was “an urgent need to go and vote after the catastrophic results” of the first round of the legislative elections which saw the National Rally come out on top.
“More than ever, we have to go and vote. It’s really urgent. We can’t put the country in the hands of these people, it’s really urgent. We’ve seen the results, it’s catastrophic,” said the striker, questioned on his position regarding the second round of the legislative elections on Sunday, during the press conference held on the eve of the Euro-2024 quarter-final against Portugal in Hamburg. “We hope that everyone will mobilize and vote for the right side,” he added.
While Mbappé never mentioned the RN during his response, he did use a touch of humor when he looked around for a journalist who wanted to ask him another question. When the latter replied that he was sitting on the “extreme left”, Mbappé replied: “Luckily it wasn’t on the other side”. Just before the first round, the Real Madrid player had called for a blockade of “the extremes”.
“The future” of the country “is at stake”
Since their arrival in Germany to play in Euro 2024, French players have been systematically questioned about the legislative elections and a possible victory of the far-right party at the end of the second round on Sunday. Marcus Thuram and Jules Koundé have thus clearly asked to block the RN, with midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni having positioned himself against “the extremes”, like Mbappé.
The other Blues questioned on the subject were content to call for a vote, while Adrien Rabiot stood out by believing that the group should not be “disturbed” by the question of the legislative elections and that it would be “good” to “leave it a little to one side”, while also calling for a vote because the “future” of the country “is at stake”.
The president of the French Football Federation Philippe Diallo told AFP on Wednesday that he had no “differences” with the players of the French team and that he guaranteed their “freedom of expression”, recalling however “the duty of neutrality” of the blue institution.
