The president will be present in Saint-Denis this Saturday for the Coupe de France final between Nantes and Toulouse. The inter-union has already planned to distribute whistles and red cards to spectators against the pension reform. “True sports lovers don’t like their events to be held hostage by politics,” said Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
Avoid a potentially disastrous sequence for Emmanuel Macron. Macronie raises his voice against the possibility of a hostile reception for the president, who will be present this Saturday evening during the final of the Coupe de France. To the chagrin of the presidential majority, who wants to avoid images of the head of state booed by thousands of football fans.
This match “was thought to be a moment of truce, during which we do not play politics”, defended government spokesperson Olivier Véran this Friday morning on BFMTV, referring to a competition which has nevertheless taken place every year since. 1917.
Before adding: “a football match is not Roman circus games”.
Red cards and whistles in the stands
The Seine-Saint-Denis inter-union has planned to distribute red cards and whistles to mark opposition to the pension reform. With one objective: to be as noisy as possible in the 49th minute of play, in reference to article 49.3 of the Constitution, activated to have the pension reform adopted without a vote by the deputies.
The threats are clearly taken seriously after a very stormy walkabout for the president in the Bas-Rhin, between whistles, boos and “Macron resignation” on April 18 – the first since the express promulgation of the pension reform.
If the Head of State continued to reconnect with field visits, he preferred relatively improvised visits to return to contact, whether in Pérols or Dôle, thus avoiding reception committees planned upstream. As for his ministers, few have escaped the casseroles in recent days during their travels.
A very hypothetical presence of Macron on the lawn
But tradition has it that, for this match which this time pits Nantes against Toulouse, the president greets the players on the lawn before kick-off and then hands over the trophy to the winning team. In other words, maximum exposure to possible boos, insults or even the throwing of projectiles.
“The final of the Coupe de France is a sporting, family and festive event to which the President of the Republic has always gone. He will be there again this year”, defended for his part the Élysée, without specifying the terms. . “For the moment, nothing is arbitrated on the presence of the president on the lawn”, however said a police source.
“We must not politicize this event to excess, let sport be a beautiful moment of unity in this country”, judged Marlène Schiappa, the Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy, on RTL this Friday morning.
An event “held hostage by politics”
Same story on the side of Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The former Prime Minister, supporter of Emmanuel Macron, argues that “true sports lovers do not like their events to be held hostage by politics”.
The president, however, would not be the first leader to be whistled. François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy had both suffered jeers. Emmanuel Macron himself was already hissed last June during a rugby final between Castres and Montpellier.
Proof, however, that this time, the turn is different: the police force deployed. “3,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilized and very numerous police checks will be put in place”, explained Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior on Europe 1.
Generating sets planned
The memory of the Champions League final fiasco between Liverpool and Real Madrid, marked by scenes of chaos, is still fresh in the memory, before the Paris 2024 Olympics and the Rugby World Cup in September.
No question either of leaving the possibility of possible power cuts as was the case during the rugby match between Agen and Nevers this Thursday evening, plunging the stadium into darkness for about thirty minutes. Generator sets will be ready for activation without delay if necessary.
