French far-right leader condemns Mbappé’s anti-extremism remarks

Jordan Bardella criticises footballer’s call for young people to vote against ‘extremes’ in upcoming elections

The French far-right leader Jordan Bardella has criticised the footballer Kylian Mbappé over his call for young people to vote against the “extremes” in parliamentary elections this month.

“I have a lot of respect for our footballers, whether Marcus Thuram or Kylian Mbappé, who are icons of football and icons for youth … But we must respect the French, we must respect everyone’s vote,” Bardella told CNews TV on Tuesday.

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Don’t vote for the far right, French sports stars urge public

Kylian Mbappé and Marion Bartoli among athletes criticised by rightwing politicians for intervening

More than 200 French athletes and sporting personalities have signed an open letter calling on voters to reject the far right in the snap parliamentary election called by Emmanuel Macron, describing it as “not only … a civic duty, but also an act of love for our country”.

As the official election campaign kicked off with just two weeks to go before the first round of voting, the appeal called for “a more inclusive and democratic society” and accused rightwing politicians of exploiting differences and diversity and “manipulating our fears to divide us”.

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German police admit to ‘blind spot’ over possible violence at England v Serbia

2016 Euros was last tournament where people could travel freely, making it hard to judge how current fans will behave

German police have spoken of concerns about an intelligence gap in the level of aggression of the latest generation of England football fan, as supporters gather in Germany for the first post-Covid Euros.

England’s Sunday evening tie against Serbia in their first game of Euro 2024 has been designated as “high risk” due to a heightened threat of violence between two groups of supporters with a history of thuggery.

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