Full Agreement

October 15, 2008
9:35 AM CST

Nothing wrong with this stand:

Any football match in France before which the country’s national anthem is booed will now be “immediately stopped”, French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot said Wednesday after meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The dramatic move followed the booing of “La Marseillaise” during France’s 3-1 friendly win over Tunisia at the Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday.

“Any match when our national anthem is whistled will be stopped immediately,” Bachelot said after talks with Sarkozy and French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes. “Government members will immediately leave the arena where our national anthem has been whistled. When whistling of our antional anthem happens, all friendly games with the country concerned will be suspended for a period yet to be determined by the federation president.”

Let me make myself perfectly clear: booing or making an otherwise derisive noise during another country’s national anthem is boorish and disgusting. During the height of the Cold War, Americans and Russians didn’t boo each other’s anthems, and there’s no reason (other than outright hooliganism) why any sporting event should be turned into an opportunity for these un-mannered morons to, as it were, paint the air with vocal graffiti.

I should also point out that if other European countries follow suit, the financial cost of such behavior to the African countries would be considerable. Not that this is the main issue.

Bad manners should not be tolerated, in any arena.