France – French football investigates ‘hate speech’ by Nice player

Youcef Attal

Nice – The French Football Federation (FFF) said on Sunday its ethics committee would investigate Nice player Youcef Atal for social media posts containing “calls for violence”, linked to the Hamas-Israel conflict.

The Algerian international defender posted a video on Instagram of a speaker making, according to people who saw it, antisemitic remarks calling for violence.

The post sparked outrage from French politicians.

It has since been deleted and AFP has been unable to independently verify its content.

On Sunday FFF president Philippe Diallo released statement denouncing “calls for violence relayed by the 27-year-old player”.

“They are contrary to the ethics of our sport and the values that soccer relentlessly defends”, he said.

“The FFF condemns them in the strongest possible terms. Hate speech cannot be tolerated,” he declared, announcing that the FFF’s national ethics council had been informed.

Atal apologised on Instagram on Sunday.

“I am aware that my publication shocked people, which was not my intention, and I apologise for that,” he wrote, adding that he wanted to “clarify (his) point of view without any ambiguity: I strongly condemn all forms of violence, anywhere in the world, and I support all victims”.

“I will never support a message of hatred. Peace is an ideal in which I firmly believe”, he said.

Contacted by AFP, the Nice public prosecutor’s office said it was not yet investigating.

you might also be interested in:

Report to us

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident of antisemitism, extremism, bias, bigotry or hate, please report it using our incident form below:

Skip to content