Leftist French MPS refuse to play ball with Right wingers

EMMANUEL MACRON’S governing party and the Left have boycotted a charity football match among MPS because of the presence of teammates from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally.

The “France football team of the National Assembly” was created in 2014 to show that politicians could join forces in the name of charity. Yesterday, two parliamentary teams were expected to face off in aid of e-enfance, a charity dedicated to fighting cyberbullying.

Included in the squad were ex-france players Robert Pirès, Sidney Govou and Christian Karembeu, along with Eric Coquerel of the hard-left France Unbowed and Olivier Véran, the president’s government spokesman. However, hours before kick-off, Left-wing parties and Mr Macron’s governing Renaissance group announced they would boycott the game because of the presence of four MPS from Ms Le Pen’s National Rally party.

In June’s legislative elections, National Rally gained a record 89 parliamentary seats out of a total of 577. However, “that doesn’t mean that we should help them in their desire to normalise themselves”, Mr Véran told Cnews.

In a statement, France Unbowed wrote: “As football fans more inclined to tackle the far-right than pass it the ball, Unbowed MPS have chosen not to help it score points with this first match.”

The warnings come amid reported government fears that France could follow in the footsteps of Italy and Sweden, which saw nationalists make major gains in elections this month.

Mr Macron told the presidential press corps this month: “In all countries in Europe we are facing the rise of extremes... In our public debates, we played down what separated the farright from the rest of the political field throughout Europe and among all Western democracies.”

Yesterday, Ms Le Pen told RTL radio the row “says a lot about these people in reality”, adding: “It’s hatred all the time, everywhere, non-stop fighting.”

Mr Véran said he had mixed feelings about the boycott, adding: “In saying that I won’t go to play, I am taking part in a phenomenon that serves to reinforce the notion that [the far-right] are ostracised, are victims of the system.”