He has often been mocked for his capillary eccentricities. But on Saturday, Paul Pogba used his hair for a cause close to his heart: the fight against racism.
The French world champion appeared on the lawn of Old Trafford on Saturday, where his Manchester United team dominated Bournemouth (5-2), with a clenched fist drawn on the left side of the skull. The American anti-racist movement logo "Black Lives Matter", drawn the same morning on the head of the midfielder by his appointed hairdresser, Ahmed Alsanawi.
"It took me an hour," explains to the Parisian one who came from London for the occasion. Paul hadn't done anything special with his hair in a while. He wanted to send a strong message against racism and the fist is an important symbol of this movement. On land, you can't speak. So this message is passed through the hair. "
In the wake of the Mancuniens' victory, Paul Pogba unveiled on Instagram a photo of his cup a few minutes after its completion. On the image, greeted on the social network by his partner in Blue Blaise Matuidi, the player victim of racist insults online in August 2019 raises his fist to the sky. Imitated in the background by Ahmed Alsanawi.
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ŋơ ʝųʂɬıƈɛ ŋơ ℘ɛąƈɛ ✊🏾 # wewontstopfighting #notoracism #blackexcellence
A post shared by Paul Labile Pogba (@paulpogba) on Jul 4, 2020 at 9:20 am PDT
The latter, nicknamed "A Star Barbers", has entered the Premier League and the world of football. The hairstylist, who has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, includes among his regulars Real Madrid star Eden Hazard or former Chelsea defender John Terry.
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During the 2018 World Cup, he traveled to Russia to take care of the hair of the players from Belgium, Nigeria and the Blues, half of whose workforce had passed through his hands. On the initiative of Pogba, whom he met three years ago.
"Paul and his hair have become iconic"
"I am not just a hairdresser, I am also an artist. But there, the important thing was the message, not the haircut, he explains. Paul and his hair have become iconic, so it gives breadth to the message. But if tomorrow sir everyone comes to see me in my living room, I make him the same cut. We wanted to do something positive, which everyone can take back to fight against this scourge. "
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During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness. Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism EVERY DAY! Whether in football, at work, at school, ANYWHERE! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end TODAY! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated. I can't tolerate I won't tolerate WE WON'T TOLERATE Racism is ignorance LOVE is intelligence STOP the silence STOP racism #NoToRacismWeAllOne #JusticeForFloyd #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter
A post shared by Paul Labile Pogba (@paulpogba) on Jun 1, 2020 at 8:34 am PDT
Saturday afternoon, Ahmed Alsanawi turned on his television to follow the match of one of his most famous clients in an empty Old Trafford, due to the Covid-19 health crisis. "Manchester won and Paul played well more," he said. That's good: there was the message against racism and victory. "
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