He was driving on Sunday February 27 in the middle of his native Brittany. But Noël Le Graët, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), agreed to cut off contact for a few moments. In order to evoke, following the start of the war in Ukraine, the possible reaction of the FFF in the event of a symbolic request for the exclusion of the Russian team (which must play in the qualifying play-offs on March 24 and 28) from the next World Cup organized from November 21 to December 18, 2022 in Qatar.
Do you understand that the world of football is asking questions regarding a possible exclusion of Russia from the next World Cup?
CHRISTMAS LE GRAËT. This is something that I have not yet discussed with other federations. I lean for an exclusion of Russia from the next World Cup. This is my first impulse. Usually, I believe that sport is there to reconcile people and ease tensions. But this is going much too far. And the world of sport, and in particular football, cannot remain neutral. I will certainly not oppose an exclusion of Russia.
Poland, opposed to the Russians in the play-offs in Moscow on March 24, announced that it refused to face Russia. What would France have done in such a case?
It’s simple and you don’t have to think long. It’s dead and we would never have been there. In these dramatic circumstances, how might we have considered playing football once morest this country?
You might be told that Russian footballers had nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine…
Yes, but that would still be too easy. It’s not just a guy who decides for himself. Behind, there is a whole country. Of course, this is not the fault of all Russians, but we cannot remain neutral in the face of all this. I think that we will rather witness a united and symbolic reaction from the world of football. And, to stay with sport, we must not forget the Ukrainians. On March 29, our France Espoirs team was to go to Ukraine as part of the qualifiers for the 2023 European Championship.
What’s going to happen ?
The European federation (UEFA) decided on Saturday February 26 that the match would be maintained, but that it would be played on neutral ground. We don’t know where yet. But, symbolically, it is good that young Ukrainians have the right to defend their chances.