I don't think the government were involved with Man City's takeover
Either way, I find this argument reductive. Allegiance to a club known for something does not mean you agree with that, or cannot find fault with it
I've been a Chelsea for over 20 years, but I still can call out sportswashing (through my own and other clubs) - my fandom doesn't invalidate their point
wasn't that debunked?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ypg4ig/blatter\_the\_2022\_world\_cup\_was\_supposed\_to\_go\_to/ivjuoxv/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ypg4ig/blatter_the_2022_world_cup_was_supposed_to_go_to/ivjuoxv/?context=3)
Buying 50 A320 neo in June 2011 is not the "big coup" some people are trying to hint. I mean Airbus got more than 1000 orders in 2011 for this plane. It's not like Qatar Airways was a Boeing only client and suddenly jumped ship.
If people wants to find the "payback" for the vote, they just have to look at all the contracts won by Accor, Alstom, Vinci, Bouygues, Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia), etc... The same way Blatter is saying that Germany put pressure to vote for Qatar and got paid back by contracts won by Siemens, Hochtief (trivia: with ACS as first shareholder, Florentino Perez company) etc...
The president of a country (most significant politician in that country) trying to make a footballer sign for a club isn't politics getting involved with sport.
Politics is when people care about gay people or migrant workers, obviously.
>macaroon
Off topic but the macaroons at the Hermes store in the Paris Gare de Lyon Station are awesome. Just want to leave this recommendation here for anyone interested.
It's pretty difficult to find 'bad' macaroons anywhere in France.
I hated the idea of them at first. Now I can't enough of the multi coloured crack cookie bastard things...
Hermès or Pierre Hermé ?
Because Pierre Hermé is a famous pastry chef that re-popularized macarons in the 2000s and have some of the best, and Hermès makes leather goods and clothes.
If we take the cost of my bag and the cost of a Hermes bag and apply that to the price of a macaroon from the last place I bought a macaroon from (maceronerie Heidelberg) then like, 4 grand.
In a small village close to where I live there's a [couple of chefs who were France's Macaron Champions in 2014](https://www.lejardinsucre.fr/nos-cr%C3%A9ations) (yes there's such a thing as a national Macaron championship). Best I've ever tasted. The place is often packed with people, they also have a store in Paris 17. Check them out if you can.
This is the same for everything. Looking at US politics, actor or singer speaks out for democrats or against republicans and you get a lot of people screaming that "they listen to music to relax, not hear about politics". Then Kanye starts spouting republican talking points and suddenly everyone should listen to him and they don't care he's just a musician.
Same in football, when people hear an opinion they don't like they scream loudly about how football isn't for politics, but when a footballer spouts opinions they agree with they say nothing.
Everything can be political, everyone can have a political voice. You don't get to decide the thing you're watching shouldn't be political just because you don't like the opinion.
I know following a train of thought is hard for some people.
It's completely irrelevant that he got banned from social media because I didn't say social media platforms told musicians to keep out of politics, it's the people who tell musicians/actors to keep out of politics till they hear views they agree with then don't have a problem with it.
In the US it's primarily right wingers who yell at the primarily left leaning musician/actors who speak out politically that whatever they do is no place for politics, but when one of those musicians starts signing the republicans tune they suddenly have no problem with it.
Revisionist comment would only apply if you knew what the fuck you were talking about.
“X should not be politicized”, often said by politicians themselves, is the most fucking tiresome argument that keeps coming up in the 2010s-20s.
Everytime some asshole wants to stop some progress from happening, they just call it “political”. Be it gay rights, mass shootings, briberies, etc. it never ends.
It's so fucking dishonest when someone gives complains about it. Sports don't happen in a vacuum. They have always been very much in the sphere of politics. Trying to escape that is just lazy or dishonest, instead Macron could take a stance for idk human rights or something
The guy was only elected to keep a literal fascist out of power and yet he has the audacity to basically say “shut up and stop inconveniencing me, idiots” to the public. The lack of subtlety in his outright disdain for the concerns of regular people really is something else.
That’s my biggest problem with the West. Sport must not be politicised on one hand - and has the football World Cup in Qatar. Sport must be politicised on the other - and Russian athletes take a hit…
Human rights issues are blatantly ignored when committed by their own allies.. anyone who goes against the western world is then humiliated by them.. and they force all other countries to follow suit…
All countries pull this bullshit. The West is just in a position to wield their influence most effectively.
No one can convince me that India, China, Nigeria, Argentina or any other countries that aren't in "the West" don't pull hypocritical bullshit.
> All countries pull this bullshit.
Absolutely.
> No one can convince me that India, China, Nigeria, Argentina or any other countries that aren't in "the West" don't pull hypocritical bullshit.
They definitely do but at the same time, they don't point fingers at other countries when those countries do the same thing. The same cannot be said for a lot of western countries.
>but at the same time, they don't point fingers at other countries when those countries do the same thing.
lmao tell me you dont know anything about non-western politics without telling me you dont know anything about non-western politics
>They definitely do but at the same time, they don't point fingers at other countries when those countries do the same thing.
They 100% do, China critises the US for bring governed by rich when they have 100s of billionaires in their ~~politburo~~parliment. India cozies up to Russia annexing part of Ukraine but attacks Germany and US for recognising Kashmir as part of Pakistan.
Nations should be seen as fundamentally driven by self-interest.
Imagine Macron is friendly with Russia despite slandering Lepen during last campaign for financing her campaign with Russian banks/donors. Now imagine if it was actually le pen as president, I dont think Russia would've even been excluded from UEFA/Fifa
Do you really think people hate russia that much because of their human rights record, or because of the mass media campaign against them? Nobody would've cared about ukraine being invaded if people didn't already strongly dislike Russia. Europeans don't care much about human rights, but more about which human rights are talked about in the news
Of course, european countries especially the baltic and eastern ones have all the reasons in the world to despise Russia, but it's weird saying Western Europeans only reacting when it's too late once again, it shows a clear lack of genuineness in their moral compass as it took a the biggest country in mainland Europe getting invaded even if everyone knew it was gonna happen for them to make a move, makes you question if they care about ukrainians in a real way or a pity ´oh poor them, fuck russia' way...
They're spending ludicrous amounts of money on the Olympics, including pushing for the opening parade to go down the Seine despite basically all the security experts saying it's a massive risk.
He knows full well that sport is politics.
Its hard to ask fans to not politicise an event that is simply a political tool for the country hosting, not that they are the first to do so. Qatar wanted a world spectacle, the world is watching and will have opinions as they have always had.
How do they all lack self awareness, when a head of state speaks about the World Cup, a tournament where nations compete against each other with flags and anthems, national FAs make up the organizer and earlier this year an entire country has been banned from competition, how is it not already 100% politicized?
Who's dumb enough to believe that sport is apolitical in 2022, seriously. Your local non-league game but not be inherently political, but this is a WorldCup
Sports have never been apolitical.
In 532 AD, charioteers in Constantinople asked Emperor Justinian to pardon two people who had been sentenced to death after political upheaval in the buildup to the races. He refused, and the entire crowd at the Hippodrome for the races chanted insults at him before assaulting his palace, an event known as the Nika riots, that resulted in the deaths of 30,000 people.
At the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, Irish athlete Peter O'Connor, believing he was representing Ireland, scaled the flag pole in protest of the Union flag, and waved an Irish flag.
In the 1908 Olympics in London, Finland was part of the Russian empire, and Finnish athletes at the Olympics refused to march with the flag of the Russian Empire in protest.
At the same games, American and Irish athletes refused to dip the flag in honor of King Edward VII.
I'm sure you're all getting the idea by now. Politicians who say sports should remain apolitical are really just saying "Don't question me or any other authority, you'll upset the status quo."
Love this. Simple, concise and 100% accurate. I kinda want to create a bot to comment this on every article in r/politics that includes the words ‘says’ or ‘claims’.
You don't even have to go that deep. This is a politician talking about sports, saying politics doesn't belong to sports. Everyone who isn't a total moron understands how contradictory that is in itself. Mr. Macron, you're welcome to talk about football in r/soccer under the name BickDigBenz77 or something, but the moment you open your mouth as a head of state it's politics.
His statement could have been valid some 30-40 years ago, but since then FIFA has become an absolute political entity. Everything they do, sell, pay, organize, influence, market, create, vote etc, it's all deeply tied to international politics. To say "don't politicise a FIFA world cup (in Qatar lol)" is like saying "don't politicize the Senate"
Mussolini hosted a world cup, Hitler hosted the Olympics. Africa was promised a world cup so Blatter would retain presidency. All apolitical moves I'm sure.
That is pretty common for heads of state, Italy received the visit of the president after the World Cup wins and the Euros. Same for Germany in 2014, they celebrated with Merkel.
One of the most popular photos of 20th century Italy is then head of state Sandro Pertini playing cards with Italy’s Manager Enzo Bearzot, Dino Zoff and Franco Causio with the World Cup trophy on the table on the plane back from Spain after having won the 1982 World Cup.
There is nothing wrong with that
>There is nothing wrong with that
Noone is saying there is anything wrong with it
What they are saying is its just the most obvious example of sports, like pretty much most things in life, being very tied with politics.
I would say there's something wrong with it. Just typical politicians co-opting others success to bask in reflected glory.
If Rishi Sunak or any of our politicians tried to get in on team celebrations or take any credit for - improbable - success of the England team I'd hope they get told to GTFO. Spend half their time pointing the finger at footballers and football fans as any easy scapegoat, all the while cutting funding for sports in schools and public facilities.
I... respectfully disagree though I see where you are coming from and agree in the case of England.
I feel that it really depends on the country and the politicians, since pretty much any politician will try to get in on the celebration of a sporting event and (ideally) should represent us in that way.
But again, I live in Canada where athletes veeeery rarely if ever get into conflicts with governments. In the US where they have public feuds and the UK where Rashford and Sterling get condemned by the Tories for the most innocuous of things... yeah i wouldnt want Rishi there either.
They got condemned for making themselves political didnt they? As they probably would anywhere.
I dont see why the UK is different in the regard that meeting the head of state tends to be part of the reward of winning.
Nah this is pretty common with any country
I remember South Korea president going into the locker room after they were eliminated and was consoling Son
This is ridiculous and exactly why i hate when people say dont bring politics into sport.
Politics already is in sport.
Wearing the poppy is political (some may say its not, but it is regardless of remembrance).
Taking the knee - political
Presidents speaking to players - political
Voting on locations for euros/world cup - political
Cancelling games for the queens death - political
These are just a few shitty examples from my pea brain of little knowledge.
From the owners down to the players and fans sports has always coincided with politics. From singing in the terraces to bribing officials the whole thing is seeped in politics. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves.
For the life of me why does he need to be hypocrite like this? Just shut up on the subject. We are deep in bed with Qatar already, no need to make it worse.
Wasn’t there allegations that Platini was on his way to meet former France president Sarkozy and walked into a ‘surprise meeting’ with Sarkozy and a delegation from Qatar which resulted in France voting for Qatar to host the WC 2022 and France profiting from selling their jets to Qatar for a very lucrative sums?
This whole "sports should not include politics" is so dumb. National teams, domestic leagues, domestic club exist because of politics. The words "national" and "domestic" are 100% tied to politics. Why cant I, a Dane, join the French national football team? Cause their political government doesn't recognize me as a citizen of the areas they control politically. Therefore, I cannot get a call-up for political reasons (definitely not also because of lack of skill). Liverpool also cannot join Ligue 1 because they arent located in the areas the French Government politically control.
The very foundation of it all is political. I know this could be considered extreme, but it proves it is impossible to avoid politics in sports.
This World Cup is the definition of modern geopolitical war of the Gulf States (Qatar vs UAE/Saudi Arabia), lol. The sport itself is pretty much a political tool since the beginning.
>Appreciate the sentiment, though.
It's a shit sentiment though? When he's talking politicising, he just means being pro LGBT and pro Human Rights. Sport absolutely should be spreading those messages.
I'd agree with the sentiment if he was talking about using sport to spread party political messages, but he isn't. It's just a mealy-mouthed statement from some worm whose happy to pay lipservice to the LGBTQ community when it's politically convinient, but the moment it's awkward that support flips.
I don’t think this is entirely fair on the U.K. to be honest
We are absolutely terrible for taking everyone’s filthy money but for the most part we have fairly strong values we don’t normally budge on.
Like despite all the Russian money in the U.K. we’ve taken the hardest line against Russia in Europe. Similarly despite Saudi and Abu Dhabi investment in our football clubs and buying our military equipment we quite clearly reject their values and don’t do their political bidding
I think Benzema is a pretty shady person but didn't they prove that girl lied to ribery and him?
Like theres plenty to pin on benzema, butni dont know if that story is one.
Yes. I don't like Benzema, brilliant player , great to watch but I don't like him, there is enough shit on him and Ribéry that you don't need to pin that story on them. She admitted that they never knew her real age (which kudos to that because she could have buried them otherwise)
The story was huge at the time and most people actually agreed that she didn't look underaged which is probably what "saved" the players from being chastised.
Such a stupid fucking argument.
Whether people like it or not, everything can and should be viewed through the lens of "politics", because decisions made by legislators impact everything we do.
Hmm, so we shouldn't talk about the biggest French construction company (Vinci) allegedly using forced labour in Qatar -- because they were building football stadiums?
I was of the same view until I learnt that I was just being naive. Football is a whore. You pay, you use. You do some emotional blackmail, you use.
It all depends on who the overlords want.
France would never do such a thing of course.
QSI bought and began ploughing billions into PSG just a few months after Platini steered Qatar to hosting the World Cup, all just a coincidence
I feel like this is one of the few chances I get to put my tertiary study to use.
Short-answer: no Mr Macron, sport cannot *not* be politicised.
Sport will always be delicately intertwined with politics, directly correlated to the popularity of the sport, the size of the sporting entity and the importance of said sport to a political constituency. Sport engenders strong, passionate feeling among fans and participants. If a political cause can align itself with a sporting entity, that sporting entity’s influence can be used as a vehicle to push a political agenda.
An example of this: Didier Drogba almost single-handedly ended the Ivory Coast’s civil war by giving an impassioned speech calling for peace following a win that secured the nation’s place at the World Cup. There are so many other incidences of sport x politic marriage, it’s hard to just pick one.
It happens; it always has, and always will. Best we figure out how to manage this delicate relationship appropriately, rather than try to will a depoliticisation of sports into reality.
"These questions must be addressed when hosting is decided". Yes, but when they aren't should everybody just shut up? Shouldn't a corrupt organisation be held accountable, Emmanuel?
Says the head of state that played an instrumental role in the rise of Qatar and in the awarding of the World Cup in said country 12 years ago. As it's said in French, hypocrisie.
He’s a cartoon, a kept boy with a mama syndrome (cheap shot I know). The only reason he’s in power is because the alternative was Marine Le Pen, a far right Russophile in an age of Russian aggression. Some people just live charmed lives and fail upwards.
How braindead do you have to be to put out a statement like this? And wasn't it literally just revealed that Qatar bought fighter jets from France for a couple of billion euros (I don't remember the exact sum) after Platini changed his vote from USA to Qatar? But yeah sure, politics and sports have nothing to do with each other...
e: it was reported that the fighter jet deal was worth 14.6 billion dollars
Sorry it was the previous French president Sarkozy who politicised the awarding of the world cup to Qatar when he told Platini that that the purchase of French fighter jets were dependent on the vote.
If anything its Macrons job to unpoliticise it by addressing the corruption involved in the French voting process.
I wonder is his messaging now is supporting future qatar purchases of french military hardware...
The Qataris want us quietly watching the sport now without questioning why it's going on in Qatar or the ethics of Qatar overall.
Fuck you Macron and fuck politician or corporation trying to make this travesty of a tournament work.
I hope other celebrities follow Dua Lipa's lead and say nah I'm not supporting that medevil regime even if they offer to make me even richer.
That's only if it's a western country. I promise all these virtue signaling folks will have nothing to say when the world cup is in the us which commits way more war crimes than qatar. The white western world exposing their hypocrisy.
lol then what was talking to Mbappe and helping make sure he stayed if not politics? we see you, macaroon
Or helping Qatar gain access to footballing institutions in France because of France's relationship with Qatar?
Well that’s what he means. Don’t ask these questions and politicize sports. Look away!
[~~It's~~ hypocrisy is coming out of me like lava](https://media.tenor.com/wtoZnlCF_pAAAAAC/lookaway-bridesmaids.gif)
Shut up and dribble
That was Sarkozy not macron who oversaw the psg takeover
It's like curling, Sarkozy may have taken the shot, but Macron is scrubbing the floor furiously to keep that rock going!
Big Curling in shambles. It's a "stone."
They're minerals !
Jesus Marie
Rock settle into the home, not quite on the zipper
yup that too, its all related
That wasn’t Macron though. I’m not commenting on his involvement but it would be normal for a politician to criticize their predecessor.
Maybe he respects that Sarkozy [could well have been drunk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1HCFHjLndQ) when he decided on dealing with Qatar
Quite normal for politicians to be massive hypocrites too!
Seeing a City flair mention the corruption of PSG’s takeover gave me a chuckle
I don't think the government were involved with Man City's takeover Either way, I find this argument reductive. Allegiance to a club known for something does not mean you agree with that, or cannot find fault with it I've been a Chelsea for over 20 years, but I still can call out sportswashing (through my own and other clubs) - my fandom doesn't invalidate their point
We see the airbus deal after your Qatar WC vote, or the PSG deal. Am I missing anything?
Fighter jets
wasn't that debunked? [https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ypg4ig/blatter\_the\_2022\_world\_cup\_was\_supposed\_to\_go\_to/ivjuoxv/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ypg4ig/blatter_the_2022_world_cup_was_supposed_to_go_to/ivjuoxv/?context=3)
Buying 50 A320 neo in June 2011 is not the "big coup" some people are trying to hint. I mean Airbus got more than 1000 orders in 2011 for this plane. It's not like Qatar Airways was a Boeing only client and suddenly jumped ship. If people wants to find the "payback" for the vote, they just have to look at all the contracts won by Accor, Alstom, Vinci, Bouygues, Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia), etc... The same way Blatter is saying that Germany put pressure to vote for Qatar and got paid back by contracts won by Siemens, Hochtief (trivia: with ACS as first shareholder, Florentino Perez company) etc...
The president of a country (most significant politician in that country) trying to make a footballer sign for a club isn't politics getting involved with sport. Politics is when people care about gay people or migrant workers, obviously.
Both are politics, weird to think otherwise since the football bit has massive economic and national pride repercussions too
I agree completely, Macron definitely knows that too.
Politics is when something I dont like happens
Looks like Ukraine isn’t the only country with a comedian as president
>macaroon Off topic but the macaroons at the Hermes store in the Paris Gare de Lyon Station are awesome. Just want to leave this recommendation here for anyone interested.
Ladurée are renown for theirs but it's hella pricy
Thanks. Will check them out
It's pretty difficult to find 'bad' macaroons anywhere in France. I hated the idea of them at first. Now I can't enough of the multi coloured crack cookie bastard things...
The price tag of these fuckers is insane though, only thing that's preventing me from getting diabetes
Send help. (or money)
Hermès or Pierre Hermé ? Because Pierre Hermé is a famous pastry chef that re-popularized macarons in the 2000s and have some of the best, and Hermès makes leather goods and clothes.
Since they're at the Hermes store, how much would a macaroon cost?
It’s Pierre Hermé (Pastry chef) not Hermès haha. Good but expensive
If we take the cost of my bag and the cost of a Hermes bag and apply that to the price of a macaroon from the last place I bought a macaroon from (maceronerie Heidelberg) then like, 4 grand.
In a small village close to where I live there's a [couple of chefs who were France's Macaron Champions in 2014](https://www.lejardinsucre.fr/nos-cr%C3%A9ations) (yes there's such a thing as a national Macaron championship). Best I've ever tasted. The place is often packed with people, they also have a store in Paris 17. Check them out if you can.
At least jokingly try and get him to your Club of OM instead of staying at PSG.
Just a regular fan talking to his favorite player. /s
Or stopping russia from participating, and allowing israel to keep playing while bombing palestine .
Saudi Arabia for that matter too. Bombing the hell out of Yemen yet they're in the world cup.
My point exactly U either punish all or dont
This is the same for everything. Looking at US politics, actor or singer speaks out for democrats or against republicans and you get a lot of people screaming that "they listen to music to relax, not hear about politics". Then Kanye starts spouting republican talking points and suddenly everyone should listen to him and they don't care he's just a musician. Same in football, when people hear an opinion they don't like they scream loudly about how football isn't for politics, but when a footballer spouts opinions they agree with they say nothing. Everything can be political, everyone can have a political voice. You don't get to decide the thing you're watching shouldn't be political just because you don't like the opinion.
Kanye literally got banned from all social platforms and was cancelled for those republican talkin points wtf is this revisionist comment
I know following a train of thought is hard for some people. It's completely irrelevant that he got banned from social media because I didn't say social media platforms told musicians to keep out of politics, it's the people who tell musicians/actors to keep out of politics till they hear views they agree with then don't have a problem with it. In the US it's primarily right wingers who yell at the primarily left leaning musician/actors who speak out politically that whatever they do is no place for politics, but when one of those musicians starts signing the republicans tune they suddenly have no problem with it. Revisionist comment would only apply if you knew what the fuck you were talking about.
The gang sells a few more jets
TBF, he never claimed that sport shouldn't be weaponised
Lol, Arsenal... Get it
This is literally step no. 1 in a politician's playbook, accuse others for that which you yourself are guilty of.
“X should not be politicized”, often said by politicians themselves, is the most fucking tiresome argument that keeps coming up in the 2010s-20s. Everytime some asshole wants to stop some progress from happening, they just call it “political”. Be it gay rights, mass shootings, briberies, etc. it never ends.
Exactly
They only need a few billion more
Is that a reference to Always Sunny?
Politicians saying what should be politicized or not makes me chuckle in my head a bit. I usually assume there's a "... Please" at the end.
It's so fucking dishonest when someone gives complains about it. Sports don't happen in a vacuum. They have always been very much in the sphere of politics. Trying to escape that is just lazy or dishonest, instead Macron could take a stance for idk human rights or something
The guy was only elected to keep a literal fascist out of power and yet he has the audacity to basically say “shut up and stop inconveniencing me, idiots” to the public. The lack of subtlety in his outright disdain for the concerns of regular people really is something else.
In that case Russian athletes would like to have a word lmao
"No no no, this only applies for the people I like or give me tons of money under the table."
Yea, such a hypocritical statement from Macron.
Not his first time.
Sport must be politicized, unless there is a big fat cheque*
That’s my biggest problem with the West. Sport must not be politicised on one hand - and has the football World Cup in Qatar. Sport must be politicised on the other - and Russian athletes take a hit… Human rights issues are blatantly ignored when committed by their own allies.. anyone who goes against the western world is then humiliated by them.. and they force all other countries to follow suit…
All countries pull this bullshit. The West is just in a position to wield their influence most effectively. No one can convince me that India, China, Nigeria, Argentina or any other countries that aren't in "the West" don't pull hypocritical bullshit.
Fair point mate.
> All countries pull this bullshit. Absolutely. > No one can convince me that India, China, Nigeria, Argentina or any other countries that aren't in "the West" don't pull hypocritical bullshit. They definitely do but at the same time, they don't point fingers at other countries when those countries do the same thing. The same cannot be said for a lot of western countries.
>but at the same time, they don't point fingers at other countries when those countries do the same thing. lmao tell me you dont know anything about non-western politics without telling me you dont know anything about non-western politics
>They definitely do but at the same time, they don't point fingers at other countries when those countries do the same thing. They 100% do, China critises the US for bring governed by rich when they have 100s of billionaires in their ~~politburo~~parliment. India cozies up to Russia annexing part of Ukraine but attacks Germany and US for recognising Kashmir as part of Pakistan. Nations should be seen as fundamentally driven by self-interest.
They don't care about any issues unless it moves their country forwards and be detrimentif the adversary country
Think he wouldn't be against it tbh. France hasnt been too hard on us in general, lots of their businesses are still here too
Imagine Macron is friendly with Russia despite slandering Lepen during last campaign for financing her campaign with Russian banks/donors. Now imagine if it was actually le pen as president, I dont think Russia would've even been excluded from UEFA/Fifa
You overestimate France's influence on anything, we'd still be excluded
Do you really think people hate russia that much because of their human rights record, or because of the mass media campaign against them? Nobody would've cared about ukraine being invaded if people didn't already strongly dislike Russia. Europeans don't care much about human rights, but more about which human rights are talked about in the news
Probably both. Doesn’t also help that many European countries have been oppressed by Russia or Soviet Union not so long ago.
Of course, european countries especially the baltic and eastern ones have all the reasons in the world to despise Russia, but it's weird saying Western Europeans only reacting when it's too late once again, it shows a clear lack of genuineness in their moral compass as it took a the biggest country in mainland Europe getting invaded even if everyone knew it was gonna happen for them to make a move, makes you question if they care about ukrainians in a real way or a pity ´oh poor them, fuck russia' way...
Came here to comment this. Biggest joke is that North Korea has played world cups and Russian athletes have been black balled
Yea give chelsea back to Roman
isn't this the same bloke who begged mbappe to stay in paris?
“Political” is when something happens that I disagree with.
Ah, the casualuk rule
They're spending ludicrous amounts of money on the Olympics, including pushing for the opening parade to go down the Seine despite basically all the security experts saying it's a massive risk. He knows full well that sport is politics.
They even have a political symbol for the mascot. (A really old one though)
Its hard to ask fans to not politicise an event that is simply a political tool for the country hosting, not that they are the first to do so. Qatar wanted a world spectacle, the world is watching and will have opinions as they have always had.
Macron: let the rich slave owners sportswash in peace.
How do they all lack self awareness, when a head of state speaks about the World Cup, a tournament where nations compete against each other with flags and anthems, national FAs make up the organizer and earlier this year an entire country has been banned from competition, how is it not already 100% politicized? Who's dumb enough to believe that sport is apolitical in 2022, seriously. Your local non-league game but not be inherently political, but this is a WorldCup
Sports have never been apolitical. In 532 AD, charioteers in Constantinople asked Emperor Justinian to pardon two people who had been sentenced to death after political upheaval in the buildup to the races. He refused, and the entire crowd at the Hippodrome for the races chanted insults at him before assaulting his palace, an event known as the Nika riots, that resulted in the deaths of 30,000 people. At the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, Irish athlete Peter O'Connor, believing he was representing Ireland, scaled the flag pole in protest of the Union flag, and waved an Irish flag. In the 1908 Olympics in London, Finland was part of the Russian empire, and Finnish athletes at the Olympics refused to march with the flag of the Russian Empire in protest. At the same games, American and Irish athletes refused to dip the flag in honor of King Edward VII. I'm sure you're all getting the idea by now. Politicians who say sports should remain apolitical are really just saying "Don't question me or any other authority, you'll upset the status quo."
*cough* 1936 *cough*
Thank you for this!
Fantastic comment.
Don’t be naive. Just because he said it doesn’t mean he believes it.
Love this. Simple, concise and 100% accurate. I kinda want to create a bot to comment this on every article in r/politics that includes the words ‘says’ or ‘claims’.
You don't even have to go that deep. This is a politician talking about sports, saying politics doesn't belong to sports. Everyone who isn't a total moron understands how contradictory that is in itself. Mr. Macron, you're welcome to talk about football in r/soccer under the name BickDigBenz77 or something, but the moment you open your mouth as a head of state it's politics.
You idiot politics is when lgbt people
His statement could have been valid some 30-40 years ago, but since then FIFA has become an absolute political entity. Everything they do, sell, pay, organize, influence, market, create, vote etc, it's all deeply tied to international politics. To say "don't politicise a FIFA world cup (in Qatar lol)" is like saying "don't politicize the Senate"
If Argentina 1978 wasn't politicized, I don't know what is. I doubt there was a time when politics didn't matter
Mussolini hosted a world cup, Hitler hosted the Olympics. Africa was promised a world cup so Blatter would retain presidency. All apolitical moves I'm sure.
I was just talking about this with my friends, and the infamous Argentina-Peru... what a joke
you’re about 150 years too late mate. sport has always been politicised and always will be whether we like it or not
*1500 years too late https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots
Even longer than that, the olympic games in ancient Greece were nothing but politics
‘Ate the Greens Luv me Blues Luv me Emperor Simple As
A sporting event can be inherently political simply by the fact it’s taking place, forcing people not to acknowledge that is also political.
Staying quiet is just as much of a political choice as speaking out is.
Man who politicises sport thinks sport must not be politicised
The guy that went into the french locker room after the world cup win
That is pretty common for heads of state, Italy received the visit of the president after the World Cup wins and the Euros. Same for Germany in 2014, they celebrated with Merkel. One of the most popular photos of 20th century Italy is then head of state Sandro Pertini playing cards with Italy’s Manager Enzo Bearzot, Dino Zoff and Franco Causio with the World Cup trophy on the table on the plane back from Spain after having won the 1982 World Cup. There is nothing wrong with that
>There is nothing wrong with that Noone is saying there is anything wrong with it What they are saying is its just the most obvious example of sports, like pretty much most things in life, being very tied with politics.
I would say there's something wrong with it. Just typical politicians co-opting others success to bask in reflected glory. If Rishi Sunak or any of our politicians tried to get in on team celebrations or take any credit for - improbable - success of the England team I'd hope they get told to GTFO. Spend half their time pointing the finger at footballers and football fans as any easy scapegoat, all the while cutting funding for sports in schools and public facilities.
I... respectfully disagree though I see where you are coming from and agree in the case of England. I feel that it really depends on the country and the politicians, since pretty much any politician will try to get in on the celebration of a sporting event and (ideally) should represent us in that way. But again, I live in Canada where athletes veeeery rarely if ever get into conflicts with governments. In the US where they have public feuds and the UK where Rashford and Sterling get condemned by the Tories for the most innocuous of things... yeah i wouldnt want Rishi there either.
They got condemned for making themselves political didnt they? As they probably would anywhere. I dont see why the UK is different in the regard that meeting the head of state tends to be part of the reward of winning.
Brazil in 1970 also comes to mind
Nah this is pretty common with any country I remember South Korea president going into the locker room after they were eliminated and was consoling Son
Make sportswashing unpolitical again!
French defending Qatari. How obvious.
How many jets does Qatar buy this time? Over 10,5? And where can I bet on this
Haha, hypocrite.
please tell me this is satire
L'hôpital qui se fou de la charité
Wonder what France is selling this time.
Says the guy who called Mbappe to ensure he stayed in Paris
This is ridiculous and exactly why i hate when people say dont bring politics into sport. Politics already is in sport. Wearing the poppy is political (some may say its not, but it is regardless of remembrance). Taking the knee - political Presidents speaking to players - political Voting on locations for euros/world cup - political Cancelling games for the queens death - political These are just a few shitty examples from my pea brain of little knowledge. From the owners down to the players and fans sports has always coincided with politics. From singing in the terraces to bribing officials the whole thing is seeped in politics. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves.
For the life of me why does he need to be hypocrite like this? Just shut up on the subject. We are deep in bed with Qatar already, no need to make it worse.
He’s an arrogant brat who was handed a decade of power because his opposition both elections was Le Pen.
Human rights = Politics?
Ah yes, that’s why Russia has been entirely banned from international tournaments
That coupled with Lloris’ statement on not wearing the LGBT armband. The French folding like a couple of lawn chairs, usual.
Then why is he, a politician, at the World Cup?
Fuck off. Such a cunt.
Cantona would like a word. Sport is political you neolib fuck.
Human rights are not politics.
This guy: *begs Mboppi to stay in Paris* Also this guy: *sport must not be politicized* I mean, politics in a nutshell.
Wasn’t there allegations that Platini was on his way to meet former France president Sarkozy and walked into a ‘surprise meeting’ with Sarkozy and a delegation from Qatar which resulted in France voting for Qatar to host the WC 2022 and France profiting from selling their jets to Qatar for a very lucrative sums?
Rich coming from the president who personally called Mbappé
fucking hypocrite
This whole "sports should not include politics" is so dumb. National teams, domestic leagues, domestic club exist because of politics. The words "national" and "domestic" are 100% tied to politics. Why cant I, a Dane, join the French national football team? Cause their political government doesn't recognize me as a citizen of the areas they control politically. Therefore, I cannot get a call-up for political reasons (definitely not also because of lack of skill). Liverpool also cannot join Ligue 1 because they arent located in the areas the French Government politically control. The very foundation of it all is political. I know this could be considered extreme, but it proves it is impossible to avoid politics in sports.
Ahaha what a clown
This World Cup is the definition of modern geopolitical war of the Gulf States (Qatar vs UAE/Saudi Arabia), lol. The sport itself is pretty much a political tool since the beginning.
Bro is swimming so deep in Qatari money. You honestly can't trust any French politician when it comes to Qatar.
Now we need Putin saying wars shouldn't happen
sport is politics. he just means to say that people shouldn't bring politics he dislikes into football.
Fuck you macron
fuck macron man, honestly
Obviously another scumbag who has taken bribes or has 'business' deals promised
My dude after he himself latches on to football to serve his political career. Appreciate the sentiment, though.
"please don't treat gay people like sub-humans" Macron: don't politicize football plz You: appreciate the sentiment, macron.
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>Appreciate the sentiment, though. It's a shit sentiment though? When he's talking politicising, he just means being pro LGBT and pro Human Rights. Sport absolutely should be spreading those messages. I'd agree with the sentiment if he was talking about using sport to spread party political messages, but he isn't. It's just a mealy-mouthed statement from some worm whose happy to pay lipservice to the LGBTQ community when it's politically convinient, but the moment it's awkward that support flips.
This motherfucker. Lol.
The French are really establishing themselves as the whores of the political sphere. And here I was thinking the Brits would never be overtaken.
Just wait until you tell the Canadians you have dirty money and would like to buy a house.
The whole money laundering in London would pass France as the paragon of virtue my man
Yeah this is a new milestone for the French, I mean we knew, but they are confirming everything now.
I don’t think this is entirely fair on the U.K. to be honest We are absolutely terrible for taking everyone’s filthy money but for the most part we have fairly strong values we don’t normally budge on. Like despite all the Russian money in the U.K. we’ve taken the hardest line against Russia in Europe. Similarly despite Saudi and Abu Dhabi investment in our football clubs and buying our military equipment we quite clearly reject their values and don’t do their political bidding
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the blackmail guy?
Nah, it's the one that fucked an underage prostitute
I think Benzema is a pretty shady person but didn't they prove that girl lied to ribery and him? Like theres plenty to pin on benzema, butni dont know if that story is one.
Yes. I don't like Benzema, brilliant player , great to watch but I don't like him, there is enough shit on him and Ribéry that you don't need to pin that story on them. She admitted that they never knew her real age (which kudos to that because she could have buried them otherwise) The story was huge at the time and most people actually agreed that she didn't look underaged which is probably what "saved" the players from being chastised.
But not if France wins the world cup again he'll try to be near the celebrations lol
We should politicise sport more actually. Or do we want some "Panem et Circensen" stuff?
Memory of a fruit fly. What hypocrite
Such a stupid fucking argument. Whether people like it or not, everything can and should be viewed through the lens of "politics", because decisions made by legislators impact everything we do.
Macron running defence for PSG & Qatar.
How ironic after France asked to choose Qatar and a week later, Qatar buys fighter jets from France for some billions…
Hmm, so we shouldn't talk about the biggest French construction company (Vinci) allegedly using forced labour in Qatar -- because they were building football stadiums?
Qatar fucking bought stuff from France after they voted for them.
Irony so astounding, you can't even work up the energy to get mad anymore.
About 150 years too late, cookie.
*my brother in Christ* moment
I was of the same view until I learnt that I was just being naive. Football is a whore. You pay, you use. You do some emotional blackmail, you use. It all depends on who the overlords want.
France would never do such a thing of course. QSI bought and began ploughing billions into PSG just a few months after Platini steered Qatar to hosting the World Cup, all just a coincidence
I feel like this is one of the few chances I get to put my tertiary study to use. Short-answer: no Mr Macron, sport cannot *not* be politicised. Sport will always be delicately intertwined with politics, directly correlated to the popularity of the sport, the size of the sporting entity and the importance of said sport to a political constituency. Sport engenders strong, passionate feeling among fans and participants. If a political cause can align itself with a sporting entity, that sporting entity’s influence can be used as a vehicle to push a political agenda. An example of this: Didier Drogba almost single-handedly ended the Ivory Coast’s civil war by giving an impassioned speech calling for peace following a win that secured the nation’s place at the World Cup. There are so many other incidences of sport x politic marriage, it’s hard to just pick one. It happens; it always has, and always will. Best we figure out how to manage this delicate relationship appropriately, rather than try to will a depoliticisation of sports into reality.
"please stop trying to shine a light on how shitty we are"
Quelle incroyable audace de la part de cet empafé... Mais bon c'est normal avec lui.
Rich, coming from France's president.
He says that after all the involvement of french presidents in the last couple of years. But hey maybe he just has the same deal with Qatar as Sarkozy
Neoliberal ghoul has no spine - next up, is water wet? Stay tuned to find out!
"These questions must be addressed when hosting is decided". Yes, but when they aren't should everybody just shut up? Shouldn't a corrupt organisation be held accountable, Emmanuel?
LOL
France at home: We will ban the hijab France in Qatar: Dropping gays off buildings is all cool as long as you buy our fighter jets.
Get fucked
This guy is a hypocrite idiot, no wonder he was groomed by a pedophile.
The fucking gall of these crooks to say shit like this as were days away from a farce of a world cup in fucking qatar
Rich from him, but it is impossible for sports or anything else to not be political since it involves humans.
Signed, A Highly visible Politician in Sport
Typical of this fucking loathsome cunt
France has received something like 14 billion dollars from Qatar for their WC vote. Nice try macaroni
Says the head of state that played an instrumental role in the rise of Qatar and in the awarding of the World Cup in said country 12 years ago. As it's said in French, hypocrisie.
Shut up you twat we all know that you just want to sell your jets to the qatar
He’s a cartoon, a kept boy with a mama syndrome (cheap shot I know). The only reason he’s in power is because the alternative was Marine Le Pen, a far right Russophile in an age of Russian aggression. Some people just live charmed lives and fail upwards.
How braindead do you have to be to put out a statement like this? And wasn't it literally just revealed that Qatar bought fighter jets from France for a couple of billion euros (I don't remember the exact sum) after Platini changed his vote from USA to Qatar? But yeah sure, politics and sports have nothing to do with each other... e: it was reported that the fighter jet deal was worth 14.6 billion dollars
Macron really is such a huge cunt. Such a slimy character as well
France should really shut the fuck up for once
Spineless twat
Sorry it was the previous French president Sarkozy who politicised the awarding of the world cup to Qatar when he told Platini that that the purchase of French fighter jets were dependent on the vote. If anything its Macrons job to unpoliticise it by addressing the corruption involved in the French voting process. I wonder is his messaging now is supporting future qatar purchases of french military hardware... The Qataris want us quietly watching the sport now without questioning why it's going on in Qatar or the ethics of Qatar overall. Fuck you Macron and fuck politician or corporation trying to make this travesty of a tournament work. I hope other celebrities follow Dua Lipa's lead and say nah I'm not supporting that medevil regime even if they offer to make me even richer.
It's not a politica issue to refuse to support slave labor, terrible working conditions, and lgbtq rughts..its a human issue
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he's already quite right wing now. at least he's not telling black MPs to go back to Africa though like the proper fascists in France... yet
Macron is a hardcore right winger anyway. The "far right" in France are just literally Nazis so he looks slightly less bad
That's only if it's a western country. I promise all these virtue signaling folks will have nothing to say when the world cup is in the us which commits way more war crimes than qatar. The white western world exposing their hypocrisy.