This Saturday, July 1, the captain of the French football team relayed a press release from the Blues to call for calm after the successive nights of violence following the death of Nahel.
“The time of violence must end to make way for that of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction”, urged the players of the French football team in reference to the riots, in a text relayed Friday by captain Kylian Mbappe.
The Blues, saying they are “marked and shocked by the brutal death of young Nahel”, launch a “call for appeasement, awareness and accountability”, assuring that violence must give way to “other peaceful and constructive ways of expressing oneself”.
“We understand the background”
Clashes with the police and damage have shaken many neighborhoods and city centers since the death on Tuesday of young Nahel, killed by a police officer during a traffic check.
“Since this tragic event, we have witnessed the expression of popular anger, the substance of which we understand, but the form of which we cannot endorse”, write the players of the France team in the text, shared on their accounts. personal. They say they share “these feelings of pain and sadness”, “but to this suffering is added that of assisting powerless in a real process of self-destruction”.
“It is your property that you are destroying, your neighborhoods, your cities, your places of fulfillment and proximity”, they detail. “In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent and our civic conscience encourages us to call for appeasement, awareness and accountability”.
According to them, “there are other peaceful and constructive ways of expressing ourselves. This is where our energies and our thoughts must be focused”. In a separate message, sent to followers of the France team, coach Didier Deschamps “welcomed” the initiative of the players.
“My staff and I associate (with it),” he said. “We also have a thought for the family of Nahel. However, without wanting to give lessons to anyone, I have the deep conviction that violence has never solved anything. I hope with all my heart that the situation will improve. appease,” said the boss of the vice-world champions.
