Paul Pogba slams reports of him quitting the French national team

The Manchester United midfielder took to social media and called it ‘fake news’

paul-pogba-pool-via-ap France's World Cup-winning footballer Paul Pogba | via AP

France’s World Cup-winning footballer Paul Pogba has denied reports which claimed that the midfielder had “resigned” from the national side as a mark of protest following the French president’s comments terming Islam as the “source of international terrorism”.

The news of Pogba quitting the national team came as a surprise to many. However, the Manchester United player took to social media and debunked the reports, calling it “unacceptable” and “fake news”.

The 27-year-old did not elaborate on the matter.

Reports in the UK media, in particular The Sun, had quoted Middle Eastern news sources which alleged that Pogba, who is a convert to Islam, considered the French government’s decision to honour the teacher who was beheaded a radical Islamist as “an insult to French Muslims”.

Samuel Paty, a teacher who showed his pupils images of the Prophet Muhammad, was beheaded on October 16 by an 18-year-old Muslim immigrant from Chechnya, Russia.

Macron had described the beheading as an ‘Islamic terrorist attack’, and also announced tougher laws to deal with “Islamist separatism”. The French government further bestowed the country’s highest honour―Legion d’Honneur―on Paty for upholding the importance of freedom of speech.

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