France
\nIn the unexpected clash between an anti-immigration French politician and a sporting hero whose parents emigrated to France, the final result was clear: Zemmour 0 \u2013 Zidane 1.
\nA week from the first round of the French presidential election, the extreme-right candidate found himself given a red card and sent off when he turned up for a kick-about at the Z5 five-a-side football club in Aix-en-Provence set up by the former French international Zinedine Zidane.
\nEric Zemmour, wearing a smart new kit including pristine knee-high socks, had barely touched the ball when Zidane\u2019s brother, Noureddine, who runs the sports centre, blew the whistle.
\n\u201cGet them out of here. All of them,\u201d Zidane said.
\nAs club staff tried to clear the pitch, Zemmour told the film crews accompanying him: \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening, we\u2019re playing well, it\u2019s great,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cWe\u2019ve rented the stadium.\u201d
\nA film of the exchange shows staff promising to reimburse the \u20ac160 fee paid for by an unnamed member of Zemmour\u2019s political team, campaigning under the slogan \u201cReconqu\u00eate\u201d (Reconquer) to rent the pitch for two hours.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have the right to play here? Well, that says everything,\u201d Zemmour added before leaving.
\nNoureddine Zidane reportedly defended his decision, saying Zemmour had not been upfront or warned them he was coming with the media in tow. He said the sports centre did not want its image associated with the extreme-right candidate.
\n\u201cYou see, in France there are not only no-go areas, but no-football areas too,\u201d Zemmour told La Provence newspaper.
\nEarlier, Zemmour had paid an impromptu visit to a flea market in the north of Marseille, home to a large immigrant population, where the candidate was booed after suggesting the sellers were \u201cmostly illegal\u201d who should be \u201csent back home\u201d. Zemmour was also asked by local church authorities not to hold a press conference in front of the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica that overlooks the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarseille is shattered by immigration \u2026 if we do nothing, the whole of France will be like Marseille a city drowned by immigration and partly Islamised,\u201d he told journalists.<\/p>\n
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Some French media questioned whether Zemmour had set out to be provocative. \u201cBy going to a sporting complex run by the brother of Zinedine Zidane, was Eric Zemmour looking to make a buzz?\u201d asked Le Parisien newspaper.<\/p>\n
Zemmour is standing in the presidential election on an anti-immigration platform and wants to set up a ministry for remigration to deport 1 million \u201cforeigners\u201d from France.<\/p>\n
Zinedine Zidane, nicknamed \u201cZizou\u201d, was born in Marseille, the youngest of five siblings of Algerian parents who emigrated to Paris in 1953. He is a hugely popular figure in France where he won 108 caps and led the country to victory in the 1998 World Cup, earning him a Legion d\u2019honneur. He also received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup won by Italy after a penalty shootout, despite being sent off in the final for an uncharacteristic outburst in which he headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest after the Italian player insulted his sister.<\/p>\n
Regarded by some as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Zidane is now a football manager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
France In the unexpected clash between an anti-immigration French politician and a sporting hero whose parents emigrated to France, the final result was clear: Zemmour 0 \u2013 Zidane 1. A week from the first round of the French presidential election, the extreme-right candidate found himself given a red card and sent off when he turned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-252904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n