It’s a well-established tradition. The President of the Republic attends the final of the French rugby championship each year. Will Emmanuel Macron deviate from this rule and withdraw from the clash between Stade Toulousain and Stade Rochelais, this Saturday evening at the Stade de France? Le Parisien indeed reveals this morning that his presence is far from certain.
According to information from the daily, a meeting is scheduled for Tuesday between the Élysée and the National Rugby League to discuss this subject. For the time being, nothing has been decided, but in a context of social tensions and protests around the pension reform, Emmanuel Macron’s entourage fears a negative reaction from some of the 80,000 spectators present in the Dionysian enclosure.
We remember that, at the end of April, during the final of the French Football Cup between Toulouse and Nantes, Emmanuel Macron, contrary to custom, did not come to greet the two teams on the lawn of the Stade de France before the kick-off. It was in the tunnel, at the exit of the locker room, that the President of the Republic had been presented with the two squads fifteen minutes before the meeting.
