Bordeaux manager, Willy Sagnol, apologises for "non-racist" racist comments

Willy Sagnol, the manager of Ligue 1 side FC Girondins de Bordeaux, has apologised for the way in which remarks he made recently appeared to some to be racist when he suggested  that African players are "powerful" but "lack technique, intelligence and discipline".

Willy Sagnol (screenshot BFM TV report)

"I apologise if my comments were misinterpreted and if I offended some people," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

"I was referring on a purely sporting level and not on either a political or social one."

The 37-year-old former French international was referring to comments he made while being interviewed by the regional daily Sud Ouest earlier this week - comments that angered some.

“The advantage of the typical African player is that he isn't expensive to recruit," he said.

"He’s generally ready to fight and is powerful on the pitch.," continued Sagnol.

"But football is not just about that. It's also about technical skills, intelligence and discipline.”

The proverbial "you know what" soon hit the fan.

Lilian Thuram, a former international team mate of Sagnol's from 2000-2008, and arguably one of the most articulate men in the game, said he was both "surprised" and "disappointed" by the Bordeaux manager's comments.

Lilian Thuram (screenshot Bourdin Direct, July 2014)

"There has always been a certain prejudice about players originating from Africa, and that has  always focused on strength over intelligence," said Thuram who, since he retired, has been active in the fight against both racism and discrimination.

"When you read or listen what Willy Sagnol said, you can see that it simply reinforces those preconceptions," he continued.

"That surprises me as he has never made such comments in the past. It is true, unfortunately, that we live in a country in which prejudice remain. And such comments simply strengthen that."


Thuram : "Sagnol renforce les préjugés" sur les... by Europe1fr

 It strengthens them. I am extremely surprised that he can keep that kind of talk . Because , whether the national team or club , he ( Willy Sagnol ) had to play with players of African or African origin and had found that there was intelligent players , disciplined and tactically very good .

Others were less gentle in their criticism with the French anti-racist French NGO SOS Racisme calling on the Fédération française de football (the French football federation, FFF) and the minister of sports to take action and labelling Sagnols comments as, "Laid-back racism".

And Pape Diouf, the former president of  Olympique de Marseille, called on all African players in Ligue 1 to boycott one day's play in the championship.

Not everyone was so incensed by Sagnol's comments - least of all the president of Bordeaux, Jean-Louis Triaud.

"We don't want to widen the scope of what was happened especially as we find it totally unjustifiable," said Triaud.

"I'm angry because anyone who knows Willy Sagnol knows he is anything but racist. The interpretation of his statement was totally wrong."

Meanwhile sports journalist Jean-Michel Larqué went a step further.

Jean-Michel Larqué (screenshot BFM TV report)

"I'm sure that Willy Sagnol was referring to the 'intelligence of the game'," he said.

"A couple of decades ago young African players were referred to as 'rough diamonds' because they had learned the game on the streets and had little knowledge on the tactical level: they didn't know 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 meant. Was that racism?"

"Let's just stop with all this polemic."

So there you have it. Sagnol's comments were clearly "laid back" or "non-racist" - depending on whose arguments you follow.

Or better still, they were accurate - as some of these Bordeaux supporters seemed to think, when questioned.

"Much ado about nothing," says the first man interviewed.

"What he says is simply the truth," says the second.

"There's a little bit of everything - African and European - in the side and there's no need to get into an argument about anything," says the third.



The bottom line?

Already expressing racist (and maybe now would be a good time for those naysayers to reach for their dictionaries to discover the definition of racism) thoughts in private is indefensible and against so much of what the so-called beautiful game has tried to combat over the past decades.

But to express them publicly  is both inexcusable, ignorant and downright stupid.

Sylvie Andrieux - the French politician who remains innocent of embezzlement after being found guilty

Politicians - don't you just love 'em.

Somehow they just don't seem to be bound by the same rules as the rest of us.

At least it seems that way some of the time.

Take the case of two Socialist party members - Sylvie Andrieux and Harlem Désir

She has been a member of parliament for a Marseille (you can stick an "s" on the end of that if you wish, if you're reading this out loud in English) constituency for the past 16 years.

He has been a member of the European parliament since 1999 and also first secretary (to all intents and purposes, leader) of the party since October 2012.

So they're both seasoned politicians - right?

Sylvie Andrieux (screenshot from LCM report on opening of trial, March 2013)

On Wednesday, a court found Andrieux guilty of misappropriating public money - otherwise known as embezzlement to the rest of us - and was given a three year prison sentence with two of them suspended, as well as being fined €100,000 and being banned from holding public office for five years.

Not bad going for a politician who was elected to serve a fourth term in last year's parliamentary elections even though she was under investigation at the time.

The conviction means she's supposed to spend a year behind bars.

Except of course Andrieux is to appeal the ruling and, as such, is apparently still considered under French law to be innocent.

Huh?

Anyway, the news was enough to have Désir come out guns a-blazin' as he took refuge in the party's rules and regulations to deliver what can only be described as the weakest of responses.

Harlem Désir (screenshot from BFM TV interview March 2013)

"Following her conviction, Sylvie Andrieux will have to leave the party until the appeal process has run its course," he said.

"If she doesn't, I'll suggest to the National Office of the party (er...wouldn't that include your good self M Désir?) that, as required by the code of ethics adopted at our party congress last year in Toulouse, she be suspended until the outcome of the appeal.

Strong words indeed and a perfect example of leadership qualities.

Anyone fancy Désir to be the country's next president?

Sheesh.

Come on M. Desir.

Show some cojones.

Just sack the woman!

Even though Andrieux has said she won't be standing in next year's local elections, she still has her seat in parliament.

And before you start thinking that a conviction of any sort marks the end of her of political career, consider this.

Back in 1998 a former head of the anti-racist group SOS-Racisme was given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined 30,000 after being found guilty of having misused corporate assets to receive a "fictional" salary.

And that man was...you've guessed it.

Nadine Morano a racist? Of course not - some of her best friends are Arabs

You kind of know that when someone comes out with that sort of statement (or variations on the same theme to deny they're a homophobe or sexist for example) they're leaving the door wide open to accusations of indeed being what they're claiming not to be.

The claim that because some of her friends are Arabs she cannot be described as a racist is just the latest in a very long list of statements Nadine Morano has made over the years which have put her fairly and squarely in the firing line for ridicule.

Nadine Morano (screenshot "C à vous")

Morano,  you might remember, was the woman for whom there was no difference between "Renault" the French car manufacturer, and "Renaud" the singer.

Oh yes, Morano was well known for her blunders during her time as a junior minister and later a full ministerial post under her former boss Nicolas Sarkozy.

She was one of his most fervent - rabidly so, some might say - supporters, not afraid to disengage her tongue from her brain and whenever television, radio or press needed a rent-a-mouth quote, Morano was on hand to oblige.

Her views already appeared at times somewhat extreme in a centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party some of whose members often flirted with the ideas of the far-right Front National (FN).
She once described gay pride parades as an "excuse for exhibitionism" and on another occasion she earned the wrath of the French anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme when she turned around and said France's young Moslems should, "dress properly, find a job and stop speaking slang".

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Morano's real colours shone through during the recent parliamentary elections.

First of all Morano gave an interview with the weekly far-right magazine Minute in which she openly called on those who had voted Front National in the first round to help her defeat her Socialist party rival Dominique Potier in the second-round run-off for the Meurthe et Moselle constituency seat she was trying to hold on to.

"We share common values," she said of herself and those FN voters.

And shortly after that interview appeared, Morano found herself "tricked" by radio presenter and comedian Gérald Dahan, who rang her pretending to be Louis Aliot, FN's vice and the partner of the party's leader Marine Le Pen.

Morano told "Aliot" (Dahan) that Le Pen was a woman with "a lot of talent" and the Front National a party which had "a lot of social policies with which I agree."

Fear not though, because Morano is clearly neither a racist nor a xenophobe - in the same way as the FN is simply a party which has built up its support based in its belief in the importance of French values and the threat they are under from immigration.

How do we know?

Because Morano said as much on the early evening magazine "C à vous" on France 5 last week, when she was talking about how difficult the parliamentary campaign had been and how hurtful she had found all those inaccurate accusations of racism.

"Some of my closest friends are Arabs," she said, saving the best to follow.

"And then there's my best friend who is originally from Chad - so she's even blacker than an Arab."

Oh dear.

Out of government and out of parliament (she lost in that run-off against Potier) let's just hope it's a long, long time before we hear from Morano again - if ever.

Friday's French music break - Daniel Lévi, "Là bas"

Friday's French music break this week is surely a lesson to any aspiring singer to learn the lyrics and, if performing a popular modern standard, try at least to stick to something resembling the original tune.

Daniel Lévi (screenshot from video of July 14 SOS Racisme concert)

Sadly that's something French singer-song writer Daniel Lévi must wish he had done at the July 14 concert for equality organised by the French anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The soon-to-be 50-year-old (he was born on August 26, 1961) was just one of a host of French singers to perform live in front of tens of thousands crammed on to the Champs de Mars, and the many millions watching the event live on France 2 television.

A chance for Lévi to shine and show-off that exceptional and powerful voice which won him so much acclaim when he performed as Moses in Pascal Obispo's 2000 musical "Les dix commandements" (The ten commandments).

But it wasn't to be, as Lévi took to the stage with Indonesian-born French singer-songwriter Anggun and Judith, a former contestant on the TV talent show Star Academy.

The trio were to interpret Jean-Jacques Goldman's "Là bas" in a manner which can only be described as awful.

Now even if you don't like Goldman - and there are plenty who don't - there's no denying the immense talent of the man and the impact he has had over the years on French music.

Many of his songs have become modern French standards and perhaps one that stands out is "Là bas", the 1987 hit he sang with the late Sri Lankan-born British singer Sirima.

It has been covered by many artists throughout the years but none can have been quite as embarrassing and appalling as Lévi's in what turned out to be surely the worst rendition - ever.

During the performance the teleprompter reportedly broke and that - to put it mildly - rather threw Lévi.

The true professional that he clearly wasn't under the circumstances appeared lost without the prompter and, forgetting the lyrics, la-la-la-ed his way through great chunks of the song.

Worse still he was out of tune in both his solos and harmonies and even though he grinned inanely throughout, nobody listening and watching could have been impressed.

Anggun and Judith didn't fare much better and couldn't have been too chuffed about their own performances, but in comparison to Levi, their voices were tunefully angelic.

If you're feeling exceptionally brave and feel those lugholes are up to it, then you might - repeat, might - want to click on the accompanying video to listen and watch.

Be warned though. It really is terrible.

Perhaps you would be better advised to listen to the original which is, quite simply, beautiful.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjx4mk_extrait-la-bas-daniel-levi-judith-et-anggun-page-facebook-welcome-with-paradispop_music


EXTRAIT : Là-Bas - Daniel Lévi , Judith et... par PARADISPOP

Claude Guéant's "France doesn't need foreign bricklayers and waiters" racist remarks

Proving once again that he is in no way a racist and only makes comments that are factually correct and amount to the truth because he says so, France's interior minister Claude Guéant was back on familiar territory at the weekend.

Claude Guéant (from Wikipedia)

This time it was to tell the French that the country didn't need immigrants to fill positions as waiters in restaurants or builders because France already had enough people to fill the vacancies.

In a marvellous train of logic that seems to have become a Guéant speciality, the interior minister pointed to the country's 2.6 million unemployed, some of whom could presumably take up those low-paid jobs in restaurants and learn to flex their muscles as builders.

What he said during a radio interview on Sunday showed a true understanding of the nature of unemployment and how to get people back to work.

"Those people who are looking for a job cannot refuse to take up positions indefinitely and should have their benefit cut if they don't at some point take what they're being offered," he said.

"It's true that we need immigrants with skills and talents," he said, seeming to backtrack on comments he made a couple of weeks ago on the need to reduce legal immigration; comments which were also criticised by some within his own party at the time.

But remember this is Claude Guéant and what might at first appear to be a softening in tone turns out to be anything other and that.

"There are about 2,000 people we really need every year who have those skills and talents," he continued.

"But we don't need bricklayers or waiters because France already has the resources to fill those posts."

Ah the sensitivity and insight of the man!

Of course Gueant would probably deny that his comments are aimed at currying favour with those inclined to vote for the far-right Front National during the next presidential and parliamentary elections in 2012.

But that's exactly what Dominique Sopo, the president of the anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme, thinks are behind the interior minister's thinking.

"There's currently a trend to create among the French a mistrust of foreigners as part of an attempt to appeal to those who might be attracted to the Front National," he said.

"But the direct consequence of these remarks is the rise in popularity of Marine Le Pen (the leader of the Front National) to an unprecedented level, one year away from the presidential elections."

Guéant might not yet have taken up the tongue-in-cheek offer Le Pen made of "honorary membership" of her party in March.

That offer came after his comments that the French were becoming worried about feeling at home in their own country.

But he's going the right way about securing himself another governmental job - maybe even as prime minister - should the unthinkable happen next year and the French return a far-right president: be that Le Pen or Nicolas Sarkozy.

French unease over national identity debate

Opposition as to whether there's a need for a debate on what constitutes national identity here in France is continuing to increase, according to the latest opinion poll released in the national daily, Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France.

Half of those questioned weren't satisfied with the way in which the debate was being carried out.

And just as significant perhaps was the response to whether the debate should be stopped.

Again 50 percent said "yes": split between those who wanted it halted completely (29 per cent) and those who wanted it suspended (21 per cent).

For Jean-Daniel Lévy, the director of the CSA Institute that carried out the poll, the findings show that the French are sending out a clear message to their president, Nicolas Sarkozy, as even among supporters of the governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement) there is some apprehension.

"The survey indicates that a number of UMP supporters prefer not to express their opinion," he says.

"In not wanting openly to find fault with a debate which is being conducted at the wish of the president, his supporters are also avoiding criticising Sarkozy himself," he added.

These latest figures are significantly different from a similar poll carried out just before the debate was launched by the immigration minister, Eric Besson, at the beginning of November, when 60 per cent of French voters said they were in favour of the idea.

The question over whether there's need for a debate has stirred passions from the outset, with political opponents accusing Sarkozy of pandering to the right wing ahead of next year's regional elections.

Indeed even though the French might have given general support to the idea at the beginning, 64 per cent of them also perceived it as electioneering.

Along with the latest opinion poll there has been more opposition from other quarters this weekend.

The French non-governmental organisation, SOS Racisme, launched a petition calling for the debate to be ended saying that the fear of it being "at best stigmatising for the country and at worst racist" had in fact become a reality.

That was a view echoed by Pierre Moscovici, a prominent Socialist party member, during an interview on national radio on Sunday.

He insisted that France had no problem with its national identity and that Besson was simply the messenger carrying out "Sarkozy's dirty work."

The debate, he said had quickly created a link that somehow put into question national identity and being Moslem, and "was damaging to the republic and degrading to France."

In spite of the latest poll and mounting criticism, Besson appears to have lost none of his enthusiasm or determination to keep the debate going, and as he made clear in an in interview the same newspaper which published the survey, Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, he even intends to extend its duration.

"The debate has been the object of a pounding for a month now and it's normal that some people should be sceptical," he said.

"Media attention has been focussed on some xenopobic remarks, but it (the debate) has partly been a victim of its own success," he continued.

"It's a debate that must unite, allowing us to look forward and provide answers to questions that might sometimes raise doubts among the French," he insisted, adding that, "We will debate this until the end of 2010 well beyond the regional elections (in March)."