Tottenham’s Sebastien Bassong: French society has to work on its approach to foreigners

EPL: Sebastien Bassong , Birmingham City and Tottenham (Getty Images)

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Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong says that French society still has a lot of work to do with its approach toward foreigners, in the wake of the racism row that has rocked the country in the past few weeks.

The France Football Federation (FFF) discussed limiting the amount of players with dual nationality in the country’s youth teams, and the 24-year-old centre-back was one of the individuals named specifically in the discussion.

Bassong told The Guardian: “I am not going to lie and say it is not more difficult in France than it is in England to find work if you have a big beard, for example. That is just a fact. In England, it is more open and that is why people come here because they know that they will get a chance, no matter how they dress or where they are from.

“In England, minds are more open. That is why French players who play in England do not want to go back to France. The way that English people think, they do not judge you for anything.

“When you go into a bank, you can see someone who is working with a tattoo. You cannot see that in France. French society still has to work with its approach to foreign people.”

Bassong was born in Paris, and represented France at under-21 level before switching allegiances to play his international football for Cameroon.