'Fake news': Pogba denies quitting France team over Macron comments
VIDEO SHOWS: FILE OF FRENCH FOOTBALLER PAUL POGBA AND FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON AS POGBA DENIES MEDIA REPORTS OF INTERNATIONAL RETIREMENT
SHOWS:
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (FILE - JUNE 5, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SHAKING HANDS WITH SOCCER PLAYERS PAUL POGBA AND KYLIAN MBAPPE
2. VARIOUS OF MACRON AND TEAM POSING FOR FAMILY PHOTO
PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - JUNE 4, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
3. WORLD CUP TROPHY
4. VARIOUS OF POGBA SEATED
5. MACRON AND WIFE, BRIGITTE MACRON, DESCHAMPS AND PLAYERS, ALL WEARING LEGION OF HONOUR MEDAL, POSING FOR PHOTO
6. MACRONS AND FRANCE TEAM SAYING "UMTITI" AS THEY SMILE FOR PHOTO, IN REFERENCE TO TEAM PLAYER SAMUEL UMTITI
7. DESCHAMPS, TEAM CAPTAIN, HUGO LLORIS, AND PLAYER, ANTOINE GRIEZMANN, WITH WORLD CUP TROPHY / POGBA IN BACKGROUND
8. CEREMONY ENDING
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (RECENT - OCTOBER 6, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
9. PLAYERS, INCLUDING PAUL POGBA, MAKING THEIR WAY OUT FOR TRAINING
10. COACH DIDIER DESCHAMPS
11. TRAINING UNDERWAY
12. KYLIAN MBAPPE (LEFT), PAUL POGBA (MIDDLE) AND ANTOINE GRIEZMANN (RIGHT) PASSING BALL IN AIR
13. POGBA AND MBAPPE PASSING BALL
STORY: Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba on Monday (October 26) denied media reports that said he quit the France national team over comments made by the country's President Emmanuel Macron which were perceived to be against Islam.
The French leader this month declared war on "Islamist separatism", which he believes is taking over some Muslim communities in France.
The Sun newspaper alleged that Pogba, a practising Muslim, reacted to Macron's comments by quitting the national team.
"Unacceptable," the 27-year-old wrote on an Instagram post along with a "fake news" sticker on a screenshot of the headline from The Sun.
The report came days after Macron paid tribute to a French history teacher who was beheaded by an Islamist radical for using cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression for 13-year-olds.
(Production: Mussab Al-Khairalla)
