(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Le Pen’s Far-Right National Rally Party Tells Mbappe & French Footballers Shut Up & Dribble [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-24 With Euro 2024 underway and with the Olympics coming to France in a few weeks time, several French football – soccer to Americans -- stars are urging voters – especially young voters in the urban suburbs -- to reject Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) in the upcoming French elections. And, echoing US critics of NBA stars who spoke out on social justice issues, the footballers are basically being told to shut up dribble. [The first round of voting is on June 30, and a second round is on July 7.] “Extremes are at the gates of power,” Kylian Mbappe, the French captain and one of the world’s greatest players, warned during his Euro 2024 pre-match press conference, adding: “I don’t want to represent a country that doesn’t correspond to my values or our values.” Other players on the French national team, including Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud and Benjamin Pavard “had all encouraged their compatriots to vote in the elections, before Marcus Thuram went a step further by explicitly urging the people of France to prevent RN from gaining power,” the BBC reported (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cw44m9pgmpro.amp). “The situation is very, very serious,” Thurman, the Inter Milan striker said. “It’s the sad reality of our society today. As a citizen, whether that’s you or me, we all need to fight every day so that this doesn’t happen and RN doesn’t succeed.” “Thuram’s intervention was unusual, for a French footballer, but not unexpected,” the BBC pointed out. “His father, former France right-back Lilian Thuram, is a renowned anti-racism advocate and named him after the Jamaican civil rights activist Marcus Garvey. Thuram Jnr has spoken out to denounce discrimination in the past.” According to the BBC, “ Mbappe’s comments have prompted lively debate in France about the extent to which professional footballers should get involved in politics.” Mbappe was born in the Paris suburbs, but his father hails from Cameroon and his mother from Algeria. Shut Up And Dribble National Rally criticized Mbappe for his comments about the elections. “I don’t expect people who are quite disconnected from reality to be lecturing the people of France,” said the party’s vice-president Sebastien Chenu. The players’ comments also sparked backlash from the party’s young figurehead, Jordan Bardella, who criticized Mbappe as he urged “’respect’ for everyone’s vote and appear[ed] to take a dig at the star’s privileged position,” NBC News reported (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cw44m9pgmpro.amp). “When you’re lucky enough to have a very, very big salary, when you are a multimillionaire ... then I’m a little embarrassed to see these athletes ... give lessons to people who can no longer make ends meet,” Bardella said. NBC’s Yuliya Talmazan reported that “ Given [the team’s multicultural] image, [it] is often attacked by the far right, which questions how French the team’s nonwhite players are and targets nonwhite players who don’t sing every word of the national anthem, said professor Rainbow Murray, an expert in French politics at Queen Mary University of London.” While agreeing that the players have a right to speak out on social and political issues, the French Football Federation distanced itself from any of the player’s comments. Will the players speaking out against LePen’s National rally affect the upcoming elections? “The discussion around this could possibly impact the election in the sense that it could mobilize younger voters, who maybe weren’t thinking of voting or who didn’t even know there was an election,” said Philippe Marliere, a professor of French and European politics at University College London. “There’s always high abstention among young voters in France, particularly those from the banlieues [urban suburbs] and from ethnic minority backgrounds. Mbappe and Thuram both come from the suburbs and they are both from ethnic minorities. Their warning will probably fail to impact the white, working-class, unemployed [voters] who support Marine le Pen. But for young people from the suburbs who weren’t thinking about voting, it could be a wake-up call.” In 2018, when Fox News host Laura Ingraham told NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant to stop “talking politics” and “keep the political comments to yourselves. … Shut up and dribble,” it resulted in enlarging his message, James said. “We will definitely not shut up and dribble, … I mean too much to society, too much to the youth, too much to so many kids who feel like they don’t have a way out,” James said. Fast forward six-years and Ingraham was effusive in her praise for Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, whose speech to the graduating class at Benedictine College ranted against President Joe Biden , Pride Month, pro-choice activists, diversity, equity and inclusion.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/24/2248341/-Le-Pen-s-Far-Right-National-Rally-Party-Tells-Mbappe-French-Footballers-Shut-Up-Dribble?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/