In the unexpected clash between an anti-immigration French politician and a sporting hero whose parents emigrated to France, the final result was clear: Zemmour 0 – Zidane 1.
A week from the first round of the French presidential election, the extreme-right candidate found himself given a red card and sent off when he turned up for a kick-about at the Z5 five-a-side football club in Aix-en-Provence set up by the former French international Zinedine Zidane.
Eric Zemmour, wearing a smart new kit including pristine knee-high socks, had barely touched the ball when Zidane’s brother, Noureddine, who runs the sports centre, blew the whistle.
“Get them out of here. All of them,” Zidane said.
As club staff tried to clear the pitch, Zemmour told the film crews accompanying him: “I don’t know what’s happening, we’re playing well, it’s great,” he said, adding: “We’ve rented the stadium.”
A film of the exchange shows staff promising to reimburse the €160 fee paid for by an unnamed member of Zemmour’s political team, campaigning under the slogan “Reconquête” (Reconquer) to rent the pitch for two hours.
“We don’t have the right to play here? Well, that says everything,” Zemmour added before leaving.
Noureddine Zidane reportedly defended his decision, saying Zemmour had not been upfront or warned them he was coming with the media in tow. He said the sports centre did not want its image associated with the extreme-right candidate.
“You see, in France there are not only no-go areas, but no-football areas too,” Zemmour told La Provence newspaper.
Earlier, Zemmour had paid an impromptu visit to a flea market in the north of Marseille, home to a large immigrant population, where the candidate was booed after suggesting the sellers were “mostly illegal” who should be “sent back home”. Zemmour was also asked by local church authorities not to hold a press conference in front of the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica that overlooks the city.
“Marseille is shattered by immigration … if we do nothing, the whole of France will be like Marseille a city drowned by immigration and partly Islamised,” he told journalists.
Some French media questioned whether Zemmour had set out to be provocative. “By going to a sporting complex run by the brother of Zinedine Zidane, was Eric Zemmour looking to make a buzz?” asked Le Parisien newspaper.
Zemmour is standing in the presidential election on an anti-immigration platform and wants to set up a ministry for remigration to deport 1 million “foreigners” from France.
Zinedine Zidane, nicknamed “Zizou”, was born in Marseille, the youngest of five siblings of Algerian parents who emigrated to Paris in 1953. He is a hugely popular figure in France where he won 108 caps and led the country to victory in the 1998 World Cup, earning him a Legion d’honneur. He also received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup won by Italy after a penalty shootout, despite being sent off in the final for an uncharacteristic outburst in which he headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest after the Italian player insulted his sister.
Regarded by some as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Zidane is now a football manager.
