After the final, then-President of France Jacques Chirac hailed Zidane as a "man of heart and conviction". Chirac later added that he found the offence to be unacceptable, but he understood that Zidane had been provoked. The French public showed support for Zidane's actions; polls done in the immediate wake of the incident showed 61% of French people said they had already forgiven him for his actions while 52% said they understood them. However, French newspaper "Le Figaro" called the headbutt "odious" and "unacceptable". "Time" magazine regarded the incident as a symbol for Europe's "grappling with multi-culturalism". Despite the ongoing furore, Zidane's sponsors announced that they would stick with him.