{"id":57414,"date":"2025-06-01T06:40:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T06:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans"},"modified":"2025-06-01T06:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T06:59:10","slug":"french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans","title":{"rendered":"French Minister Criticized for ‘Barbarians’ Remark on PSG Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is facing backlash after referring to Paris Saint-Germain supporters celebrating the club\u2019s UEFA Champions League victory as \u201cbarbarians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments came after PSG shut out Italy\u2019s Inter Milan 5 – 0 in the Champions League final, sparking widespread celebrations across France.<\/p>\n

A total of 131 people were taken into custody nationwide following the match, according to a report by the Le Figaro newspaper, citing the Paris Police Department. Two vehicles were also set on fire and a store was looted.<\/p>\n

In Grenoble, three pedestrians were injured when a driver lost control of a vehicle and crashed into a crowd, French broadcaster BFMTV reported.<\/p>\n

Retailleau wrote on X that true fans enjoyed the match, but \u201csome barbarians took to the streets of Paris to commit crimes and provoke law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he instructed security forces to respond firmly to the incidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is intolerable that we cannot even celebrate without fearing the savagery of a minority of thugs who respect nothing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Retailleau\u2019s use of the term \u201cbarbarians\u201d drew sharp criticism from opposition lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Antoine Leaument, a member of the far-left France Unbowed party, condemned the excessive use of tear gas at the Madeleine metro station, one of the closest open metro stations to the Champs-E\u0301lyse\u0301es, where fans had gathered. \u201cPreventing people from celebrating victory on the Champs-E\u0301lyse\u0301es, is that the plan? The barbarian is at Beauvau,\u201d he said, referring to a public square.<\/p>\n

Opposition lawmaker Alexis Corbiere also criticized Retailleau, calling his remarks inappropriate for a Republican interior minister. \u201cWe must reject the violence of those who want to spoil the celebration, but why use this kind of language: ‘barbarian,’ ‘savage,’ meaning foreigner and almost animal?\u201d he said. \u201cEven when people are happy, this man is full of hatred.”<\/p>\n

Thomas Portes, with France Unbowed, accused Retailleau of racism, writing on X: “We may have political disagreements, but the word \u2018barbarian\u2019 has no place coming from the mouth of the Interior Minister. Bruno Retailleau confirms tonight that he is a racist Interior Minister.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is facing backlash after referring to Paris Saint-Germain supporters celebrating the club\u2019s UEFA Champions League victory as \u201cbarbarians.\u201d The comments came after PSG shut out Italy\u2019s Inter Milan 5 – 0 in the Champions League final, sparking widespread celebrations across France. A total of 131 people were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":57413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[245,2654],"class_list":["post-57414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-lesotho","tag-psg"],"yoast_head":"\nFrench Minister Criticized for 'Barbarians' Remark on PSG Fans - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is facing backlash after referring to Paris Saint-Germain supporters celebrati ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French Minister Criticized for 'Barbarians' Remark on PSG Fans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is facing backlash after referring to Paris Saint-Germain supporters celebrati ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T06:40:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T06:59:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/06\/sm_1748744837.021057.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"486\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"French Minister Criticized for ‘Barbarians’ Remark on PSG Fans\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-01T06:40:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-01T06:59:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans\"},\"wordCount\":364,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/06\/sm_1748744837.021057.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\",\"PSG\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/french-minister-criticized-for-barbarians-remark-on-psg-fans\",\"name\":\"French Minister Criticized for 'Barbarians' Remark on PSG Fans - 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