The choice of an American song as the anthem for French supporters at the Euro 2016 football tournament was denounced as “incomprehensible” by the government yesterday.
The tournament organisers were accused of making a mockery of state efforts to defend the French language when they chose a version of I Was Made for Lovin’ You, a 1979 hit by Kiss, the rock band.
A Lille-based group called Skip The Use released their Euro 2016 version last week, called I Was Made for Lovin’ You, My Team. It was billed by the tournament’s main sponsors as the official fans’ song but the national football federation has backed away from formally endorsing it.
“Euro 2016 will be a great, popular festival of sport which is taking place in France and which will therefore project the image of our country abroad. And our language too,” said André Vallini, the minister for la Francophonie, the organisation representing the French-speaking world. “It is therefore incomprehensible that the anthem of the French national team should be in English.”
The tournament is being staged in France in June and July.
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Mr Vallini said it was “alarming” that English was also being used for the chorus in France’s entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. “For Pete’s sake, let’s not score goals against our own side,” he said.
The French song J’ai cherché, sung by Amir, is being tipped as a possible Eurovision winner in Stockholm this month. English has rarely been used in France’s Eurovision entries but the traditional use of French has been blamed for its abysmal record in the contest, which it last won in 1977.