The eyes of the world will rest for just over two years in Paris, where the next Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held between July and September 2024. Gallic sport wants these events across the planet to showcase the best. French version. And for many of its athletes, that won’t happen if Marine Le Pen, the most right -wing candidate, becomes president. of the country and is in charge of opening events. As a result, dozens of leaders from various disciplines have joined forces to show their support for Emmanuel Macron, the current head of the national government, ahead of the second round of elections, which will take place next Sunday.

About 50 athletes and former athletes signed a statement, released by the newspaper The Parisianwhere they called on their countrymen to vote for Macron to avoid victory for his main rival, who has been leading the polls in recent weeks, since the first round on April 10.

The names of recognized international sports figures can be found below the text. They include, for example, the former basketball player and NBA star, Tony Parker; Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Yannick Noah, from the world of tennis; and the footballers Dimitri Payet Y Blaise Matuidi; the sprinter and triple olympic champion Marie-Jose Perec and his companion Stephane Diagana, two -time world champion, retired; the rugby players Antoine DuPont Y Frederic Michalak; the former swimmer Laure ManaudouOlympic gold in Athens 2004; Nikola Karabatichandball player, and a legend of the chosen sport, jackson richardson.

The letter was led by a clear message: “We, French athletes of all professions and disciplines, cannot imagine that this historic moment was marked by a presidency of the extreme right.”

The historic moment they refer to is the opening ceremonies of 2024 Paris Olympicsheld between July 26 and August 11 of that year, and the subsequent Paralympic event, from August 28 to September 8. Athletes don’t want the world to hear the iconic phrase “I declare the opening of the Paris Games celebrating the 33rd Olympiad of the Modern Era”traditionally delivered by the president of the host country, in the voice of Le Pen.

“If we are fully aware of the difficulties that many French people are going through, we are convinced that voting for a party that would jeopardize the values ​​of the republic is the worst remedy,” they pointed out in the text, taking their position against the candidacy. of the opposition.

“The sport we believe in, the Olympic values, is made of friendship and respect; it is the place of diversity. It rejects all forms of discrimination. Across the territory, in our cities, in our suburbs and in our countryside, The sport is a powerful remedy against exclusion.In these times of uncertainty, it is a vector of union between people.This happens when an entire country remembers that it is ONE by vibrating simultaneously after the achievements of its athletes ”, they continue.

And they closed: “It is because we believe in this sport, fraternal and inclusive, that we are committed to preventing our country from being put in front of a president who contains the opposite, the stigmatization of others, the removal in itself, nationalism. And that, therefore, we ask for the vote for Emmanuel Macron on April 24 “.

Le Pen is the candidate for National Groupa far -right party founded by his father, Jean-Marie LePen, and defined historically with the image of a racist and anti-Semitic party. And although during this campaign, the 53-year-old lawyer distances his speeches from those foundations, many point out that in reality his ideas don’t change very much and that his platform is aimed at , according to experts, to hinder immigration, fight. “Islamist ideology” and providing social assistance for the French, among other measures. A line of thinking that French sport, or a good part of it, at least, is not shared.

In that letter, however, one name is missing that Macron wanted to add at first, Kylian Mbappé, perhaps the most recognizable face of Gallic sport in the world. And the most influential in the society of that country.

The Paris Saint Germain striker has a good relationship with the current president of France, with whom he even spoke in recent months where the leader tried to convince the player to renew his contract with the Parisian club.

In addition, he has shown in the past that he has no problem engaging publicly in social causes or movements. In June 2020, he set an example by voting in municipal elections in Bondy, the city where he grew up. And he was even part of the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus promoted by Macron.

The current president hopes Mbappé will raise his voice to encourage his countrymen to vote, which will help in virtually ensuring the election. It was that in the first round, the abstention percentage was 35 per cent and the absence of people at the polls could favor, in the last count, Le Pen.