Paris SG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier pleaded a handling error on Sunday night, a few hours after liking a post linked to the far right, garnering numerous hostile reactions from internet users but also support from right-wing political figures.

"You tried to make me look like a fascist," lamented the former Lille player, who claims to have learned of the controversy on Sunday afternoon before the match against Olympique Lyonnais, when his "like" comment, since removed, had been highlighted on Saturday night.

"I'm not trying to convince you, but it's disheartening to know that by scrolling and unknowingly leaving a like on a post, and then waking up from your nap to prepare for the match, you're informed that your image is tarnished from top to bottom for an accidental action, it pisses me off," he summarized.

The publication in question unearthed an excerpt from a June 2024 debate on the LCP channel in which the vice-president of the Republicans, Julien Aubert, stated that he would choose to vote for the RN in the event of a second round against the New Popular Front in the upcoming legislative elections.

"I am not going to blame Marine Le Pen for what her father did, in the same way that she is not responsible for what her grandfather did," argued the former deputy from Vaucluse, prompted by a journalist mentioning the links of the National Front (FN) with "Pétainism" and the "Waffen-SS".

"I am not here to air (...) my political demands because I am first and foremost a footballer. But it is certain that anyone who knows me knows very well how much I am a person to whom my parents and family have instilled values, respect, and that under no circumstances would I allow myself to think such things," Chevalier defended himself on Instagram.

"But the damage is done and things have been said about me (...) I will never play the victim but the limits have been crossed, and by a long shot," he concluded.

On Monday morning, Chevalier received support from several right-wing and far-right figures, including the former leader of the Republicans, now allied with the National Rally, Eric Ciotti.

"Racism is intolerable, including anti-white racism," wrote the founder of the Union of the Right for the Republic, a candidate for mayor of Nice, on X.