Shawl around her neck and brown hat on her head, Aurore Lanzéré pushes the heavy door of Fox and Friends, this crowded pub in downtown Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine). The 43-year-old childminder joins her son, Arthur, this Tuesday, November 22. It’s almost 8 p.m.
” It started ? » On the screens, the players of the France team shake hands with the Australians. Enthusiastic, Aurore sits on the stool then explains: “The World Cup is a ritual with my son. A moment of sharing which I really care about, but the conditions of organization of this competition bother me. » She stops talking. His face closes, embarrassed.
Aurore Lanzéré talks about what she has read about dead workers on stadium construction sites in Qatar, the air conditioning in the enclosures or the banning of “One Love” armbands. Around her, her neighbors nod and shrug their shoulders. “Human rights have been violated to give us this spectacle. In my head, a little voice asks me what am I doing here? », grimaces the forties.
The day before, Aurore appreciated the knee placed on the ground by the English team, the Iranian national anthem that the players did not sing or the various LGBT messages distilled. She hopes “a strong gesture” of the France team, which will make it “proud”. But nothing comes except the kickoff. A few minutes later, the Australian team overflows and scores. Silence in the bar. Aurore joins her hands in front of her face, but the memory of the laborious France-Australia 2018, won in extremis, convinces her that the course of the meeting can evolve favorably. Arthur opens his jacket and shows off his blue jersey.
“It’s too late to criticize”
They are few to wear the tunic of the France team. In a bar on the rue de la Soif Rennes, Léo Guimard, 23, proudly walks his own, the jersey of 1998, the first world title for the French. “I had to take this outfit out and watch the game”, said the history student, leaning on the bar. He pays for his pint and continues: “I agree with those who criticize the holding of this World Cup. I am angry with those who agreed to organize this World Cup under these conditions. I blame those who couldn’t say nope. But it is too late to criticize. » A burst of joy shakes the bar. France have just equalized.
A stone’s throw away, the news of Adrien Rabiot’s goal did not reach Alban Dauleu’s living room. A web developer, the 30-year-old subscriber to Stade Rennes and accustomed to following the matches of the Blues, has decided to boycott the World Cup. His television is off, his cell phone is on the coffee table. It him ” cost ” not to follow the high mass of world football.
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