Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has revealed he will be voting for Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential elections on Sunday and urged his compatriots to follow suit.
Polls currently suggest that the incumbent Macron, who came into office in 2017, will become the first leader in over 20 years to successfully defend his presidency when the country goes to the polls this weekend. His opponent - right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen - is making her third attempt at the precedency after beating out Jean-Luc Melenchon in the previous round of voting.
Both Macron and Le Pen went toe to toe on Wednesday night in a hotly-contested television debate, with subjects discussed including the war in Ukraine, Europe, immigration, taxes and the rising cost of living. Among those who caught up with the debate afterwards was Vieira, who told reporters he hoped Macron would come out on top in Sunday’s final vote.
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“It’s a really important day for France and for the country,” he said on Friday morning ahead of Crystal Palace’s Premier League clash with Leeds at Selhurst Park on Monday. “Hopefully, everyone will vote for Emmanuel Macron this Sunday.”
The race to become France’s 26th president has already divided opinion across the country and the rest of the world, with France a key member of the global council and with huge influence inside the European Union with Macron. The 44-year-old’s detractors say he is too elitist, while those in Le Pen’s camp deny accusations of racism from the daughter of infamous anti-immigration, nationalist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Le Pen, whose popularity primarily stems from France’s rural areas and small towns, has tried her best to distance herself from her father’s toxic shadow, preferring to be known as simply ‘Marine’ and putting herself across to the public as the softest-spoken version of herself yet. Her priorities concentrate on law and order and immigration, while her policy to ban the burqa headdress worn by Muslim women remains one of the central points of her campaign.
Thousands of French voters are backing Macron as a way of keeping Le Pen away from the Elysee Palace, though the incumbent leader might also have to rely on far left voters - who have a deep dislike for him - to back his presidential bid as the lesser of two evils. With radical left candidate Melenchon taking a huge 7.7million votes in the first round a fortnight ago, tactical voting could come into play in a big way on Sunday.
