Politics In France
Whilst France itself was being ruled by a left-leaning, socialist coalition, many far-right politicians still had power and support, with a lot of the French population fearing immigration or having racist views towards people of colour. As sad as that is though, the story of the 1998 World Cup proved that love and unity will always win over hatred and bullying.
The Road To The Final
After France’s opening group game against South Africa, the 3-0 win was almost overshadowed by Le Pen’s attack on players: Christian Karembeu (New Caledonian) and Lillian Thuram (Guadeloupian) for not singing “La Marseillaise” before the game. Further similar comments followed in their 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia and 2-1 win over Denmark. Disappointly, despite topping the group on maximum points, Le Pen and his followers still claimed that “none of them had a real place in the French team”. After the win, President Chirac’s approval ratings spiked by around 18% – a testament to his belief in the unity of diversity, but also a harsh reality for Le Pen to face. But face it he did not, he once again made comments aimed at the player’s heritage – claiming that “this is not a win for France”. Although by this time he had lost many followers, with 1.5 million Frenchmen lining the streets to celebrate their world cup win, but also the unity in France.
The Rainbow Team
Whilst Zidane was the eventual poster-boy for the 1998 world cup, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the french team used unity and diversity to overcome every obstacle in their way; French politicians, Brazil and even some fans – acting as a temporary positive symbol of national unity and diversity in European countries. Before the 1998 world cup, the general consensus was that Brazil were going to make it to 5 world cups. The bookies had Brazil at 5/1, Germany at 7/1 and the hosts, France in third at 8/1. Although it seemed unlikely for France to win the Jules Rimet after failing to qualify in 1990 and 1994, their games being played on home soil was a massive advantage, despite being deemed to have one of the most unproven teams in international football.
Although 21 of the 23 man squad in the official squad were born on French soil, the majority were the children of immigrants or had lineage from former French colonies and other nations. This shockingly made over 50% of the team able to play for another country. After the tournament, Guadalupian-born Lillian Thuram, France’s most capped player, stated that “When we take to the field, we do so as Frenchmen. All of us. It doesn’t matter if we’re black or not, because we’re French – showing the importance of diversity in the team. Thuram’s comments were made in retaliation to far-right politician Jean-Marie Le pen’s racist, xenophobic comments about the team before the competition; labelling them as “artificial” and “foreigners”.
