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28/11/2022–|Last updated: 11/28/202212:31 AM (Makkah)
French journalist Pierre-Louis Raymond said that President Emmanuel Macron, from the outset, “did not change his position by an inch on Qatar, and on its ability to organize a tournament.” successful toworld Cup“.
Raymond added, in an interview with the (evening) program on Al-Jazeera Mubasher channel, today, Sunday, that the political and media parties, especially the Paris municipality, have failed miserably in politicizing the Qatar World Cup, and have become, in the eyes of the French, “unreliable parties.”
Raymond added, “The focus now must be on the official position of the French government only, and President Macron spoke the language of reason, heart, and reality, and nullified the effect of this campaign.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, through his Arabic-language Twitter account, called for preserving the sportsmanship, praising Qatar’s efforts to make the World Cup a success.
“In a world facing a series of crises, it is our duty to preserve the spirit of sports, as it is a space for people to converge on universal values,” Macron wrote.
He added, “The FIFA World Cup is being held for the first time in the Arab region, and is witnessing tangible changes. The State of Qatar has made remarkable efforts to make the event a success and continues to do so, and it can count on our support.”
The French media stressed that there is a state of congruence between the French official and popular position on the World Cup. Adding that this position has not changed since 2012.
He said that the parties that immersed themselves in this campaign no longer had a significant impact, especially since the numbers and viewership rates confirmed that the French watched their country’s matches in the World Cup in millions through the (TF1) channel.
For his part, sports journalist Mohamed Mandour stated that the viewership of the match, the first and the second for the French team, exceeded the barrier of 12 million viewers.
He added that this organized campaign against the Qatar World Cup showed a state of separation between the owners of the campaign and the choices of the French street and its football fans.
He said, “The French sports audience today only cares about what is happening on the field, and this campaign unveiled racist rhetoric against Qatar, but this rhetoric finds no support in reality.”