NFL in France: “Que un sang…”, controversy after the modification of the words of the Marseillaise before the match

This match will go down in history. In every sense of the word. The Stade de France was the scene this Sunday evening of the very first NFL meeting organized in France. A shock won by the Pittsburgh Steelers against the New Orleans Saints (16-10). But the sequence of the evening took place before the match, during the Marseillaise.

“Let a united blood water our furrows.” These are the last words of the Marseillaise pronounced by Nina Tonji, a 23-year-old Franco-Canadian singer appointed to perform the French anthem written in 1792 by Rouget de Lisle. She preferred to intone this phrase instead of the traditional “impure blood”. A choice which has not gone unnoticed, especially for the most attentive, and which is controversial. Five letters replaced, but the whole sentence takes on a different meaning.

While the “impure blood” referred to that of the enemies of the Revolution, the version by the Franco-Canadian artist designates the blood of the French. In her version, she therefore symbolically calls for the blood of the French to flow on French lands. Internet users reacted strongly and saw for some a “lack of respect” or even “a shame”. Others go even further, so far as to mention article 433-5-1 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that the fact of “publicly insulting the national anthem or the tricolor flag is punishable by a fine of 7,500 euros” if this is done during a “demonstration organized or regulated by public authorities”. For the moment, Nina Tonji has not yet spoken out to justify this change of words.