The star consultant of TF1 experienced a painful sequence while he was at the height of his glory. In December 2000, he was the victim of a racketeering attempt by Basque separatists.
On December 6, 2000, a threatening letter was sent from Paris-Louvre, a post office then open day and night, to the parents of Bixente Lizarazu, living in Hendaye, on the Spanish border. In the envelope, two typewritten pages written in Basque which are clearly addressed to the full-back of the France team, even if he is never named. But the message is clear: it is up to him to pay the “revolutionary tax” demanded by the Basque organization ETA if he does not want to expose himself to reprisals.
After highlighting the merits of the Blues, winners of the World Cup in 1998 and crowned at the Euro a few months earlier, and in particular “the exemplary nature of his game”, the authors of this letter change their tone and explain that they feel “concern and anger because you defended the colors of an enemy state”. Also, the “fortunate traitor” must catch up and pay his dues. “You were paid a hundredfold to wear the jersey of an oppressive state with money stolen from the Basques and the Basque people”it is thus written, the Basque separatists adding: “Taking into account the emoluments received from the enemy, ETA is addressing you. »
Evoking the “major economic needs” of the organization to “to lead the fight”, the ETA is explicit: “We are asking you for financial help. (…) A non-response to our request would result in a response against You or against your property.” There is little doubt about the authenticity of the missive and the threat is taken seriously as ETA left 21 people dead and 60 injured on the Spanish side during the year.
Thus, the player is placed under protection by his club, Bayern Munich, and bodyguards from the Security Service of the Ministry of the Interior are also placed at his service during his returns to France. Judging “this news (ETA threat) is absurd in its motivations and its foundations”the Prime Minister at the time, Lionel Jospin, assured the French side of all his support, convinced that “the man, balanced and sensitive” that it is “will take it very calmly”.
Bixente Lizarazu spoke about the subject at the end of his career in his autobiography. “In Germany, I went to Bayern training in a camouflaged armored sedan with weapons at hand. I imagine myself in James Bond’s Aston Martin. This delirium, in which I am in the shoes of 007, takes away the gravity from this heavy ritual and allows me to endure it”he explained, adding about his daily life in the Basque Country: “In the Basque Country, every morning they inspected my car, they looked under it, they started it. In airports, I used the secret entrances, reserved for heads of state.”
