The next edition of the FIFA World Cup is not far off. This 2026 edition, organized by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, will take place from June 11 to July 19. To bring this World Cup to life, M6, which will broadcast the competition for free, has put together a team including Ophélie Meunier, Xavier Domerhue, Julien Brun, and Samuel Umtiti.
Michou, M6’s special envoy to the FIFA World Cup
With over 11 million subscribers on YouTube, Michou, a famous video creator, has been chosen by M6 to film content “behind the scenes” for his own social networks as well as those of M6 and post-match magazines. This is M6’s way of trying to attract a younger audience. However, not everyone is happy with his presence. Many journalists, both famous and unknown, have expressed regret that this role was not given to a professional journalist or at least a video creator specializing in football. Sports journalist Cécile Grès particularly stated, “For me, he takes the place of a journalist. There are people who study, who are passionate about this job, and I fear that this may discourage young students to see other profiles in their place. It’s very tough for beginners. There is so much competition that seeing this must be disheartening for them.” (Puremédias, issue T18).
Michou defended by the head of RMC
Asked about this on Monday during the press conference unveiling RMC’s coverage of the World Cup, Karim Nedjari, the general director of the radio station, revealed his thoughts on this controversy. He said, “Football belongs to everyone. Influencers, football players, coaches, fans, everyone has the right to talk about football and then the audience decides. The more we enrich football, the more we want to talk about it, and the more we want to talk about it, the more we want to share it (…) I know they are targeting a specific audience. I want everyone to be interested in football, and lately it has been more common to dislike football, football players, sports, and I want everyone to be interested in it. So if Michou can bring in a different audience, all the better,” he stated as reported by Puremédias.
