Oh Say Can You Get Worked Up Over Some Whistles

Big controversy here in France this week.  During a so-called "amicale" or "friendly" soccer match at the Stade de France on Tuesday between the national teams of France and Tunesia, a large number of the Tunesian fans decided to whistle (the equivalent of booing) during the singing of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.  This caused a strong reaction (one could say, an overreaction) from the French government, as noted here:

[President Nicolas] Sarkozy has demanded an investigation, and has called Jean-Pierre Escalettes, head of the French Football Federation to his office to explain the incident.

Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has asked for a judicial investigation, using images from the security cameras in the stadium. Anyone arrested will be banned from the stadium.

Prime Minister François Fillon said that the booing was "insulting to France, insulting for the French players" and said that the match should have been called off. He added that it was up to match organisers to find solutions to such problems.

Health and Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin and Junior Sports Minister, Bernard Laporte said in a statement that they were "shocked by the jeering...notably during the playing of the Marseillaise, symbol of the French Republic"

Laporte, former trainer of the French rugby team, went as far as to suggest that matches against north African countries should no longer be played in the Parisian stadium, recalling similar incidents when France played Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in the past.

Underlying this, of course, is the fact that many of the countries in the Magreb were former French colonies, not always well-treated by France during colonial times, and many residents of France of from North Africa face discrimination in France.  But some of the government proposals coming out of the incident seem way over-the-top, including the idea that matches should be immediately called off if the La Marseillaise is booed before the match.  Hard to imagine how that plays out -- 60,000 people have paid good money and traveled all the way to the stadium to see the match, and now you call it off, and they do, what exactly?  File calmly out the exits?

The best comment I've seen in response came from a former French national player who is now the head the European Soccer Union.  Interviewed in Le Monde, he hit the nail on the head:

Je ne vois pas dans les sifflets qu'on a entendus au Stade de France un manque de respect ou une insulte à la France mais simplement des manifestations contre un adversaire d'un soir, en l'occurrence l'équipe de France, que l'on veut battre. Dans d'autres occasions, je suis certain que les mêmes jeunes qui ont sifflé La Marseillaise, mardi soir, chantent l'hymne national quand l'équipe de France dispute un match de l'Euro ou de la Coupe du monde.

The Tunesians weren't booing France, they were booing the French team, because they were rooting for the Tunesian team.  If those same individuals were in the same stadium watching the French team in the World Cup against another country, they'd be singing the national anthem like everyone else.  Probably true.  (He also noted that he never sang La Marseillaise before a match, because it's a "chant guerrier et que pour moi, un match de foot, c'est un jeu et pas la guerre" -- it's a war song and for me, a soccer match is not a war.  Perhaps this gent should be President of France.)

I could be wrong, but it's hard to see such a reaction gaining as much traction in the U.S. nowadays, although I recall the strong reaction that followed the "black power" salute of U.S. Olympic athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos during the 1968 Mexico City games.  I suspect that the reaction of most folks would be the same as the reaction of the man interviewed by Le Monde -- it is, after all, just a game.