On Sunday evening at the Parc des Princes, during the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille (3-1, day 26 of Ligue 1), a number of chants and banners were directed at Adrien Rabiot (29-year-old Marseille midfielder) and his family, with some insults. Comments made about the PSG-trained player have provoked a number of reactions. His mother and agent have announced complaints, while Benoît Payant, mayor of Marseille, has called on the Ligue de Football Professionnel and the Parisian club to react.
“Direct attacks on Adrien Rabiot and his family are intolerable. All my support to the player and his mother.
This kind of behavior is not acceptable. Soccer must always bring us together!
I demand a clear reaction from the League and PSG.”
It’s understandable that the insults are upsetting, but it’s annoying to see all this fuss when there’s usually a great deal of silence around the various insults. For example, why didn’t anyone react when Bradley Barcola (22-year-old striker) was targeted by Lyon fans? Probably because it was less “interesting” in media or political terms.
We have to stop pretending that the fight is against such behavior in soccer, rather than to take advantage of the opportunity to show ourselves “strong” against PSG or to win a few points in public opinion. Here, Marseille’s mayor couldn’t resist taking advantage of the situation.
Now, we’re just waiting to see what happens next in the other stadiums. Perhaps we’ll be surprised to see that there’s a real desire to change the situation.
