Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s status in France is at an all-time low, with a newspaper poll suggesting almost eight out of ten French people (79%) have a poor opinion of the Swedish striker.
In an Ordoxa pull published by Le Parisien, 84% of the French people said they thought the PSG striker is arrogant, while the number who claimed to like Ibrahimovic plummeted from 62% in March 2014 to 21%.
The change in public opinion has almost certainly been triggered by Ibrahimovic’s recent outburst. The striker was filmed complaining in the tunnel after PSG’s 3-2 loss to Bordeaux last Sunday. In the video, a shirtless Ibrahimovic said: “I’ve been playing for 15 years and I’ve never seen [good] refereeing in this shit country. They don’t even deserve PSG in this country.”
The poll addressed the comments directly, asking participants if they had been shocked by them – 77% of people said that they had been. Ibrahimovic made an apology for his comments after the French sports minister, Patrick Kanner, called on him to do so. “Regarding my comments after tonight’s game; they were not against France or the French people,” Ibrahimovic said on Instagram. The poll suggests that this was not enough, with 65% saying that his comments, even when said in anger and later retracted, were still unacceptable.
More than 1,000 people took part in the poll, which also asked participants to say if certain terms applied to the striker, who joined PSG from Milan in 2012. Alongside arrogance, Ibrahimovic, was also considered to be angry (84%) and individualistic (77%) and scored poorly on discipline (8%), loving his team (23%) and perhaps most disappointingly for the Swede, charisma (38%). 66% of people also felt that since his arrival, Ibrahimovic has had a negative impact on the image of PSG.
Ibrahimovic’s outburst has caused a storm in France, with political figures wading into the debate. In addition to Kanner, Socialist Party MP Jérôme Guedj, said he must “show some respect towards this country”, while Front National leader Marine Le Pen also got involved, saying “those who consider that France is a shit country can leave it. There. It’s as simple as that.”
It wasn’t all bad news for Ibrahimovic - 6 out of 10 people agreed that he is a talented and spectacular player, and among football fans polled, his standing is higher - 51% felt that he has improved PSG’s image, and 37% of fans still have a positive view of the striker.
Ibrahmovic is expected to face sanctions for his comments from the French Football League, with PSG manager Laurent Blanc hopeful that he will avoid heavy sanctions. Blanc said that Ibrahimovic has had a difficult season, but deserves the chance to show people his ability as an “extraordinary football player”.
On the field, it has been business as usual for Ibrahimovic – he scored a hat-trick to take his league tally to 17 goals as PSG beat Lorient 3-1 at Parc des Princes on Friday evening. His post on Instagram after the game – which showed the match ball, signed and strapped into its own first-class plane seat – may do little for his public image.
