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Les Bleus in strife: ‘Idiot’ fans vs ‘stupid’ players

You wouldn’t want to be a footballer in the French national team right now. Les Bleus go into Tuesday's potentially crucial final World Cup qualifier against Finland, with polls showing the vast majority of French people hold the team in contempt. One player has hit back, calling the fans "idiots".

Published: 15 October 2013 12:28 CEST
Les Bleus in strife: 'Idiot' fans vs 'stupid' players
"No one likes us". French striker Andre Pierre Gignac holds his head after failing to find the net. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP

Footballers always stress the importance of having their home fans behind them, but it appears Didier Deschamps' side don't have this luxury.

Les Bleus go into Tuesday's crucial World Cup qualifier against Finland in Paris, knowing that they're not particularly popular among the French public.

A BVA poll published in Le Parisien at the weekend revealed that more than eight out of ten French people have a negative opinion of the national team.

When probed further about their views on the players, respondents didn't hold back, with 85 percent saying Les Bleus were "stupid" and 73 percent believing they were "rude."

Some 84 percent slammed the players for being "individualistic" and 86 percent insisting they were "overpaid".

And the BVA poll even got personal with Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri picked out as the most unpopular players in the squad – with approval ratings even lower than beleaguered French President François Hollande.

Despite needing a win on Tuesday to qualify directly for next summer's World Cup in Brazil, the build up to the clash has all been about the results of the poll.

“Of course it hasn't gone unnoticed,” said French captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

“But we also know that when you win, it's easier and you feel more loved. We've had a difficult run but we are working to rectify the trend…and qualify for the World Cup, when we know the whole country will be behind us.”

Lloris might not have read another recent poll suggesting a slight majority of the French public would actually rather see their team miss out on a trip to Brazil 2014.

French coach Didier Deschamps bristled at the mention of the poll in a press conference before the match this week.

Asked whether the French football team had ever been as hated as it is now, the manager replied: "What kind of a question is that? Surveys about sports and other subjects do not really interest me. It's not something that's nice to read about or listen to.”

The current malaise around the French team is a far cry from 1998 when they were heralded as national heroes for winning the World Cup on home soil or even 2006 when they made the final in Germany, before losing to Italy on penalties.

The antipathy towards Les Bleus seems to stem from the infamous moment at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when the team went on strike after a dressing room bust up with then coach Raymond Domenech.

For their part, the popularity of Ribery and Benzema has suffered a massive drop in France, since 2010, when a major scandal broke involving allegations the two stars had paid to have sex with then underage call girl Zahia Dahar. 

SEE ALSO: Footballers on trial over sex with teen call girl

Yet even on Friday as the team romped to a 6-0 win at home to Australia, there was more than a hint of the antagonistic relationship between players and fans.

Star forward Benzema was jeered more than cheered when he entered the fray as a second-half substitute for Olivier Giroud, paying for a run of 1,222 minutes without scoring in the blue shirt of the national team.

When he did find the net, six minutes after his introduction, the home crowd appeared to have partially forgiven him.

Marseille playmaker Mathieu Valbuena was roundly booed every time he touched the ball, paying for his association with the fierce and bitter rivals of the host club at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain.

Valbuena, though, failed to let the moment pass and his reaction could only serve to further tarnish an already strained relationship.

"Not much affects me. You have to forgive them, maybe they thought Paris were playing," said the diminutive midfielder after the game.

"You can't turn idiots into intelligent people. It's a shame because when you're wearing the France shirt they should get behind us, but it doesn't bother me."

Whether France will make it to Brazil is very much in doubt. The team know they are unlikely to make it through automatically as group winners, with current leaders Spain knowing a draw at home to Georgia on Tuesday will be enough to see them on the plane to Brazil.

That leaves France facing the prospect of a two-legged play off against another group runner up, including Sweden and possibly even England, should they fail to beat Poland on Tuesday.

It would be too much to hope for Georgia to win in Spain, but another handsome victory and an impressive display in the northern suburbs of Paris will at least provide Les Bleus with a confidence boost ahead of the play-offs, and perhaps help win a few hearts and minds at the same time.

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SPORT

Norway’s football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott

Will Norwegian football star Erling Braut Haaland stay home or play on what fans have dubbed a "cemetery?" This Sunday, a meeting of Norway's football community will decide whether to boycott next year's World Cup in Qatar.

Published: 18 June 2021 11:27 CEST
Norway's football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott
Norway's forward Erling Haaland (L) and teammates wear jerseys reading "Fair play for migrant workers" before the international friendly football match between Norway and Greece at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga in preperation for the UEFA European Championships, on June 6, 2021. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Under pressure from grassroots activists the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF) has decided to hold an extraordinary congress to decide on whether to pass up football’s showpiece event all together.

The games on the pitches in the Middle Eastern emirate will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery,” according to Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), invoking a commonly used metaphor among opponents of Norway’s participation.

Norway, which has not qualified for a major international competition since Euro 2000, is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group behind Turkey, the Netherlands and Montenegro. 

So while qualification seems an uphill task, the result of the vote could have an impact on whether Norway and its young star Haaland — one of the rising stars of world football — continue to play qualifying matches. 

The movement calling for a boycott began north of the Arctic Circle when football club Tromso IL spoke out against turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses at the end of February.

“We can no longer sit and watch people die in the name of football,” the first division club proclaimed.

Qatar has faced criticism for its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, with campaigners accusing employers of exploitation and forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions.

Qatari authorities meanwhile insist they have done more than any country in the region to improve worker welfare.

“There is no doubt that this World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar,” Tom Hogli, a former professional footballer turned public relations officer for Tromso IL, told AFP.

“The conditions there are abominable and many have lost their lives,” he added.

In March, a spokesman for the Qatari organisers put the number of deaths on the construction sites at “three” since 2014, with another 35 having died away from their workplaces, challenging the heavy toll reported by some rights groups.

Push from fans
The Tromso call began gathering pace in Norway, where clubs operate under a democratic structure, and under pressure from fans, many teams now say “nei” (no).

According to Sandvik, the fans feel that the deaths on the World Cup sites would have been avoided “if they had not had to build hotels, railways and stadiums”.

Nearly half of Norwegians, 49 percent, now say they are in favour of a boycott, while only 29 percent are against it, according to a poll published by newspaper VG on Wednesday.

The Nordic country’s national squad has already protested conditions in Qatar, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Before recent Norway games, Borussia Dortmund superstar Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and the rest of the team have worn t-shirts with slogans like “Human rights on and off the pitch.”

Other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have also followed suit.

FIFA, on the other hand, argue that awarding the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar has opened the door to social progress.

“We know there is still work to be done, but we need to recognise the significant progress achieved in a very short time,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in May.

‘Few successes’ 
While the executive committee of the NFF have said they regret Qatar being awarded the World Cup, they oppose a boycott.

President Terje Svendsen said he thought it was “not the right tool to improve the human rights situation or the working conditions in Qatar,” when speaking at the federation’s ordinary annual congress in March.

According to the NFF, a boycott could end up costing Norway 205 million Norwegian kroner ($24 million, 20 million euros) in fines and compensation as well as lost revenue.

Feeling the pressure from grassroots campaigns, the NFF referred the matter to an extraordinary congress which on Sunday will bring together the eight members of its executive committee, representatives of 18 districts and of hundreds of professional and amateur clubs.

The discussions will be revolve around the findings of an expert committee which, with the exception of two members representing fans, has also come out against a boycott.

“For a boycott to succeed, you need a critical mass behind it, an opposition that calls for it in the country, the UN to put pressure on the
authorities, the business world, the trade unions and civil society to put pressure on it in the long term,” committee chairman Sven Mollekleiv said in a debate hosted by broadcaster TV2.

“Historically, there are few successes,” he said.

Rather than a boycott, the committee recommended 26 measures to consolidate and further the gains made in Qatar but also to ensure that FIFA doesn’t become complicit in so called “sportswashing” — the polishing of a country’s public image through a major sporting event.

Some initial supporters of a boycott, like Tromso’s Hogli, have since sided with these conclusions, although calls for a complete boycott remain.

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