‘fake news’: Paul Pogba Slams France Retirement Rumours

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Pogba put up a post on Instagram and Twitter and termed it as ‘fake news’
• Earlier a British tabloid had reported that Pogba had quit the French national team
• The news spread like wildfire on social media and left a lot of Pogba’s fans surprised

After a report said that World Cup winner Paul Pogba has quit the French football team over president Emmanuel Macron’s alleged comment that Islam was the source of international terrorism, the Manchester United star himself denied having taken any such step. It was alleged in the report that Pogba has made the decision following the remarks on Friday from his country’s leader. The French government’s decision to honour the teacher who was involved in Prophet Muhammad’s offensive images controversy, which Pogba reportedly resented, was also said to be behind the move. 

Pogba’s apparent resignation was published Sunday in the Arabic sports website 195sports.com, which said that the decision to give the teacher the Legion d’honneur and the comments were the motivation for his decision to stop playing as a French international. It allegedly said that Pogba considered the decision an insult to him and to French Muslims, especially since Islam is the second religion in France after Christianity.  

However, the development was neither confirmed by Pogba or the French Football association and now teh French star himself has issued a clarification.

The 27-year-old was last seen in action for his club Manchester United as a second half substitute against Chelsea this Saturday.  

This controversy follows in the wake of a middle school history teacher in France being knifed to death near the school where earlier this month he had shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, considered blasphemous by Muslims, French officials said on Friday. 

The attacker was shot dead by a police patrol a few streets away from the scene of the attack late on Friday afternoon, in a residential suburb north-west of Paris. 

“One of our fellow citizens was assassinated today because he was teaching, he was teaching pupils about freedom of expression,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at the scene of the attack. 

“Our compatriot was flagrantly attacked, was the victim of an Islamist terrorist attack,” Macron further said. 

“They won’t win… We will act. Firmly, And quickly. You can count on my determination,” he added.