South African Comedian Trevor Noah is not having the best of days as he has been accused of playing the race card after he claimed Africa won the World Cup – because of the overwhelming number of black players in the French national team.
France closed the World Cup with a 4:2 win over Croatia in a wild final match that had a bit of everything.
But while anchoring his segment on The Daily Show, Mr Noah declared that the victory was for Africa.
Barring the likes of captain Hugo Lloris, goalscorer Antoine Griezmann and striker Olivier Giroud who are of European heritage, 16 out of the the rest of the 23-man squad have African roots of some sort.
The 34 year old stand-up comedian then joked it was not France that won the competition in Russia.
He said on Monday: ‘Africa won the World Cup.
‘I get it, they have to say it’s the French team.
‘But look at those guys. You don’t get that tan by hanging out in the south of France, my friends.
‘Basically if you don’t understand, France is Africans’ backup team. Once Senegal and Nigeria got knocked out, that’s who we root for.’
Noah’s reflections on the US show didn’t go down well with French football enthusiasts as they poured in on Twitter to give him the stick.
Martin Medus, a former French reality TV star was among those who blasted the comments.
He said: ‘You’re a f****** racist. Those people are French and p***** to always be reminded of their background. They fight hard to tell people they are proud French people and yet you disrespect them calling them African. Are the Lakers an African team?’
Elise Frank added: ‘So basically, Trevor, all the African-Americans in the US are just Africans, right? Know that as a french of Algerian, German and Spanish descent, I find it insulting. We are all french, we are one people. Ask the players,they’ll tell you they’re proud frenchmen!’
One man opined: ‘This is so racist to think that because they are black they are not French. They claimed their love of France. You denied them the right to be French? Is this what you want to deliver to all afro americans also?
‘98% of the players were born in France. Only two players were born in Africa, but they came at the age of two. So they’ve grown up in France.’
French players have already responded to reports they are African – insisting they are a French team
Manchester City left back Benjamin Mendy tweeted the names of the squad with a French flag next to each of them after sport page SPORF indicated where each player’s family originated.
Les Bleus has a number of black players including star forward Kylian Mbappe, midfielder Paul Pogba, Juventus man Blaise Matuidi and defender Djibril Sidibe.
The World Cup win for France has been described as a ‘victory for immigration’ as the nation rallied around players of foreign descent.
Former US president Barack Obama was among those to point out the varied races of the team.
‘Just ask the French football team that just won the World Cup. … Not all of those folks looked like Gauls to me. But they’re French! They’re French,’ Obama said in Johannesburg.
Mr Noah, however was not alone in his school of thought as his comments were shared by others around the world, because of the French players’ heritage.
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro weighed in on the discussion. He said : ‘The French team seems like the African team, in reality Africa won, the African immigrants who arrived in France,’ Maduro said at an event to celebrate police day in Venezuela on Monday.
‘How much have they despised Africa, and in the football World Cup France won the trophy thanks to African players or the sons of Africans.’
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