France moves to halt booing of national anthem

France’s sports minister, Roselyne Bachelot, is tired of seeing her country’s national anthem dishonored. Fans booed the anthem, "La Marseillaise," during the French soccer team’s win over Tunisia Tuesday in what was supposed to be a "friendly" match. An outraged President Nicolas Sarkozy called the fans’ behavior "scandalous." "Any match when our national anthem is ...

France's sports minister, Roselyne Bachelot, is tired of seeing her country's national anthem dishonored. Fans booed the anthem, "La Marseillaise," during the French soccer team's win over Tunisia Tuesday in what was supposed to be a "friendly" match. An outraged President Nicolas Sarkozy called the fans' behavior "scandalous."

"Any match when our national anthem is whistled will be stopped immediately," warned Bachelot, and "government members will immediately leave the arena."

French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes blamed "imbecilic" fans for the new policy, and another top government official suggested that maybe France ought not to play friendly matches with North African countries at all.

France’s sports minister, Roselyne Bachelot, is tired of seeing her country’s national anthem dishonored. Fans booed the anthem, "La Marseillaise," during the French soccer team’s win over Tunisia Tuesday in what was supposed to be a "friendly" match. An outraged President Nicolas Sarkozy called the fans’ behavior "scandalous."

"Any match when our national anthem is whistled will be stopped immediately," warned Bachelot, and "government members will immediately leave the arena."

French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes blamed "imbecilic" fans for the new policy, and another top government official suggested that maybe France ought not to play friendly matches with North African countries at all.

I imagine Americans would react with similar anger if the "Star Spangled Banner" were booed in the United States. But as a Le Monde editorial argues, perhaps a better idea would be to finally get serious about addressing the root causes here — the alienation and social disintegration of North African communities in France.

Watch the video of the incident in question here:

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