Suspending matches for anthem abuse ´absurd´: Platini

French government plans to halt games if the national anthem is jeered are “absurd”, according to Michel Platini, president of European football's governing body UEFA.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered that any match in France be halted if the “Marseillaise” is booed — after the jeering of the national anthem before Tuesday's international between France and Tunisia in Paris.

“If you start halting matches because there are whistles during the anthem then you could also halt a match as soon as a player is jeered or a goalkeeper is booed after a clearance. It's absurd,” Platini said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.

“Once again, football has been taken hostage by politicians because this business about the whistling has become a political affair which has nothing to do with sport,” he added.

“Thirty years ago, when I played with the France team, the Marseillaise was whistled at every venue. But at the time, politicians were not interested in football and it didn't upset anyone.”

The whistles were not, he said, an insult to France but simply part of fans' rivalry in football.

He added: “On other occasions, I'm sure the same young people who jeered the Marseillaise on Tuesday night sang the national anthem when France played a game during the European championships or the World Cup.”

Many of the 60,000 crowd on Tuesday were Tunisian — friendlies against North African sides traditionally attract widespread support from sizeable immigrant communities in France.

Some booed when the names of the French players were announced in the stadium before kickoff, reaching a crescendo for Hatem Ben Arfa, born in France to Tunisian parents. Ben Arfa opted to play for the country of his birth despite overtures from the Tunisian Federation.

Sarkozy and fellow politicians reacted with shock and anger at the booing and whistling.

Bernard Laporte, the government's secretary of state for sport, even suggested that France no longer play friendlies against North African countries following similar problems in recent years against Algeria and Morocco — like Tunisia, former colonies of France.

Jean-Pierre Escalettes, president of the French Football Federation, admitted Friday that implementing the ruling to halt a match would be a tough proposition.

“Evacuating a stadium when the national anthem is jeered is now something we have to do,” Escalettes told AFP.

“It's difficult but not impossible, with the police, the ministry and federation working hand in hand.

“We need to get to work so we know what we have to do if there's a crisis.”