The French left on Friday criticised President Emmanuel Macron’s presence in Qatar for the semi-finals and the final match of the FIFA World Cup, as well as his praise of the event’s organisation.
“You can say it’s well-organised because you don’t see the deaths that have been caused by building these stadiums, you don’t see the violations of human rights, and you don’t see the ten tonnes of carbon dioxide that are emitted from this competition,” asserted the new Chair of the Green Party Marine Tondelier.
She added: “Emmanuel Macron is not French like the others. If he wanted to take a plane, he should have gone to Montreal, where the COP is being held. We are living in the sixth mass extinction.”
As for radical left member of the National Assembly of France, Francois Ruffin, who is passionate about football, he criticised the president for saying that “sport is not political.” Ruffin proposed that instead of travelling, he should install: “Giant screens in the halls or gardens of the Champs Elysées for a very popular celebration.”
Ruffin continued criticising Macron’s actions by stating that Macron: “Did not go there for football but for gas, he goes there for money, he goes there for the interests of France,” at a time when Qatar is at the centre of a corruption scandal being investigated by the European Parliament.
READ: France Sports Minister praises Qatar ‘impressive organisation’ of World Cup