From the BBC website:
France's star footballer Kylian Mbappé urged voters to stand against "extremist" parties, as campaigning in the country's parliamentary elections kicked off.
President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election earlier this month, following a victory for his rival Marine Le Pen's right-wing National Rally in European elections.
With less than two weeks before the vote, his centrist alliance risks being squeezed by new coalitions on the left and right.
Yesterday, police estimated that a quarter of a million people protested across France against the prospect of the far-right coming to power.
Speaking in Germany ahead of France's opening Euro 2024 fixture on Sunday night, Mbappé urged young voters to reject "extremists", who he said were "at the gates of power”.
"We have an opportunity to choose the future of the country and we have to emphasise the importance of the task," he added. But the forward admitted he was concerned about the prospect of widespread apathy among younger voters.
Mbappé didn't name those he considered to be extremists, but was responding to a question about his teammate Marcus Thuram, who said he wanted to keep the far-right National Rally party from power during a recent interview.
The party was quick to attack Mbappé for his comments. Nicolas Conquer, a National Rally candidate, told the BBC's Newshour programme that it "doesn't feel right for a sportsman from the national team to give directions on how people should vote".
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