Samir Nasri has withdrawn from his role as a television pundit for the Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, citing abuse directed at him by PSG supporters. The 38-year-old had been confirmed as part of the Canal+ panel for Saturday's fixture in Budapest but will no longer fulfil that commitment.
Nasri made 125 appearances for Arsenal between 2008 and 2011 before his controversial departure to Manchester City, and his connection to the north London club gave his inclusion on the panel a certain editorial logic. The deeper source of friction with PSG supporters, however, is not Arsenal but Marseille — Nasri's boyhood club, where he came through the academy and made 166 appearances across four seasons. The rivalry between PSG and Marseille is among the most charged in French football, and it was during Canal+'s coverage of PSG's semi-final against Bayern Munich that the abuse directed at Nasri escalated.
Speaking to L'Equipe, Nasri addressed the episode with measured candour. He acknowledged that insults from PSG supporters came with the territory of his Marseille association, but drew a clear line at abuse targeting his mother. He was also candid about the logic of the reshuffle, suggesting that the final was better served by pundits with clearer partisan attachments to each side — naming Robert Pires and David Ginola as more fitting representatives of Arsenal and PSG respectively. He added that, despite his years at the Emirates, his relationship with Arsenal supporters had never been particularly close.
That distance is not difficult to account for. Nasri's exit from Arsenal in the summer of 2011 was contentious. He left for City having turned down a contract extension, and while he consistently maintained that his primary motivation was the pursuit of trophies rather than a higher wage, many Arsenal supporters remained unconvinced. He was, in any case, vindicated in narrow footballing terms: City won the Premier League title in his first season, ending a 44-year wait for the club, and he collected further medals in subsequent years.
With the final now days away, Arsenal approach the fixture in Budapest seeking a first European Cup in the club's history. PSG, meanwhile, arrive as the side Nasri himself identified as favourites when asked to assess the tie earlier this month. Whether his absence from the studio will be mourned in either end of the ground seems, by his own admission, unlikely. The panel Canal+ assemble in his place will carry the broadcast forward — and the match itself will provide a more than sufficient focus for the occasion.
Reporting: Mirror, Daily Mail.