France to Halt Games When Anthem Is Booed

Any football match in France before which the country’s national anthem is booed will now be “immediately stopped”, French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot said Wednesday after meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The dramatic move followed the booing of “La Marseillaise” during France’s 3-1 friendly win over Tunisia at the Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday.

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“Government members will immediately leave the arena where our national anthem has been whistled, [said French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes].

“When whistling of our antional anthem happens, all friendly games with the country concerned will be suspended for a period yet to be determined by the federation president.”

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He [French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes] blamed “imbecilic” fans for forcing the crackdown which he said left both him and the players scandalised and hurt.

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Bernard Laporte, the ministerial secretary of state for sport, told Radio Monte Carlo he would suggest that France no longer play friendlies against North African countries following similar problems in recent years against Algeria and Morocco—like Tunisia, once former colonies of France.

“Let’s stop the hypocrisy—let’s just stop doing these matches,” said Laporte.

“We cannot tolerate our Marseillaise being jeered.”

Many of the 60,000 crowd on Tuesday were Tunisian—friendlies against North African sides traditionally attract widespread support from sizeable immigrant communities in and around the French capital.

Some booed when the names of the French players were read out over the PA system before kickoff, reaching a crescendo for Hatem Ben Arfa, born in France to Tunisian parents and who opted to play for the country of his birth despite overtures from the Tunisian Federation.

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Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the French far-right National Front, said the jeering was proof of the failure of multiculturalism, insisting the “integration of foreign masses to our culture culture is a failure as it is a utopia”.

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