Sat, Oct 18, 2008 page19

• Outrage in France over booing

  OVER THE TOP Critics accused the French government of overreacting to the anthem being jeered after the president warned future matches could be called off

  • AFP
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  Critics on Thursday accused the French government of overreacting after immigrant youths booed the national anthem at a soccer match against Tunisia, as the country simmered with outrage over the incident.

  “Indignation!” “An affair of state!” splashed newspaper front pages, while a poll in Le Parisien showed 80 percent of people were “shocked” to see the Paris Stade de France erupt into jeers at Tuesday’s game against Tunisia.

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government issued a stark warning to soccer fans on Wednesday, saying it would call off future games if the “Marseillaise” is jeered again, amid a chorus of outrage from the political establishment.

  But critics dismissed the idea as unworkable and dangerous.

  “At what point do you stop the match? After 1,000 jeers, 5,000, 10,000?” asked opposition Socialist deputy Elisabeth Guigou, while a spokesman for European soccer’s governing body UEFA, William Gaillard, called it unrealistic.

  “If you stop a game after the national anthem is jeered, there is no doubt there will be violence in the stadium and across the area,” warned the pro-government le Figaro newspaper.

  Three years after the riots in France’s poor city suburbs, the case revived concerns that many second and third-generation immigrants from north Africa still feel excluded from mainstream society.

  Similar incidents marred French games against Algeria in 2001 and Morocco last year, when large parts of the crowd jeered the “Marseillaise.”

  “Yeah, I whistled,” 15-year-old Eldeterr — the rapper’s stage name — was quoted as telling the left-wing newspaper Liberation. “And I’ll tell you why — I can’t love a country that doesn’t love us back.”

  But France’s housing minister Fadela Amara, who is of north African origin, said the behavior cast “shame on their parents” and the 5 million-strong Muslim community, and demanded “exemplary” punishment.

  “Enough talking about social malaise and the problems with integration. We have to stop finding excuses for them,” she told Le Parisien.

  Officials have opened a judicial inquiry for “outrage” against the national anthem or flag — in theory an offense punishable by a hefty fine and up to six months in jail under a 2003 law that has never been applied.

  Liberation said the “overblown indignation of certain ministers ... borders on the ridiculous.”

  Malek Boutih, a senior Socialist official and former head of SOS Racism, also accused politicians of “overplaying” their outrage.

  “It’s true some symbols of the republic are not too popular in the suburbs. But politicians would make better use of their intelligence by focusing on the economic crisis instead of this marginal case,” Boutih said.

  When France won the 1998 World Cup, the immigrant suburbs poured onto the Champs Elysees to celebrate, cheering and wrapped in the national flag, he pointed out.

  Meanwhile critics poured scorn on Junior Sports Minister Bernard Laporte for suggesting France should no longer play north African teams at home.

  “Absurd, ridiculous,” said Guigou, who urged the government to “keep things in proportion.”
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