Wembanyama joins French sports stars in 'extremes' election warning

Basketball star Victor Wembanyama joined other leading French sports heros on Thursday in warning against voting for the "extremes" in this weekend's parliamentary election.

Polls show the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party could emerge as the biggest parliamentary group and head a government for the first time in what would be a seismic change for France.

"Of course, political choices are personal, but for me it is important to take a distance from extremes, which are not the direction to take for a country like ours," the San Antonio Spurs phenomenon, who is expected to represent France at the Paris Olympics, told reporters in Paris.

Wembanyama's words echoed those of football superstar Kylian Mbappe and other members of the French national football team, many of whom come from immigrant backgrounds.

Mbappe and several teamates have also urged French voters to avoid "the extremes" in a tacit call not to vote for the RN on Sunday.

"Today we can all see that extremists are very close to winning power and we have the opportunity to choose the future of our country," Mbappe said on June 16 from Germany where he is captaining France at the European Championships.

"The country needs to identify with the values of diversity and tolerance," Mbappe added, saying he wanted "to be proud to wear the shirt of my country on July 7" -- the date of the second and decisive round of the election.

His teammate Marcus Thuram called on the country "to fight every day" against the RN, while France and Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni added his voice to the clamour for moderation on Thursday.

"In everyday life, I hate extremes. I'm more for a politics of unity, that's what represents France the best," Tchouameni told a press conference in Germany.

- Moral lessons? -

Most sports stars are reluctant to make political statements out of fear of alienating fans or sponsors.

But they are seen as potentially influential in swaying young people, who could be decisive in Sunday's vote.

During the last parliamentary election in 2022, an estimated 70 percent of the under-35s abstained.

Young people tend to vote for parties on the left, but the National Rally, fronted by 28-year-old prime ministerial candidate Jordan Bardella, has grown in popularity in all age categories in recent years.

In European elections on June 9, the far-right party won 26 percent of votes from the under-25s, up 11 points since the last election in 2019, according to a poll by Ipsos.

Bardella dismissed Mbappe's intervention last week, saying he was irritated to see "millionaires who have no difficulty in paying their bills every month giving moral lessons to French people who are greatly suffering."

Elsewhere in the French sports world, rugby captain Antoine Dupont vaunted the "values of diversity" in his sport last week and urged people to "go to vote".

An open-letter by sports personalities warning that the far-right "exploits differences and manipulates our fears to divide us" has been signed by 300 people, including Olympic gold medal sprinter Marie-Jose Perec and ex-tennis champion Yannick Noah.

The election risks casting a shadow over the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26.

Security experts have warned about the risk of protests or political instability.

"I encourage votes against the National Rally which has values and principals which are not mine," French volleyball star Earvin Ngapeth told AFP on Thursday.

"The France that I love is a France in which everyone mixes, like our team in the Olympics through which we provide happiness to French people," the 33-year-old added.

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