Across social media, sports stars denied the chance to play in front of a crowd are increasingly going "live" in sometimes surprising ways to connect with an audience.
To the delight of fans, happy to discover some hidden facets of their idols, stars from Karim Benzema to the Brazilian legend Ronaldo and even Rafael Nadal, who initially struggled with Instagram, are dropping their habitual discretion to interact live with their millions of followers.
"As competitions are suspended, sportsmen and women are no longer necessarily supervised by the club's press officer," Boris Helleu, an expert on digital strategies in sport, told AFP.
"The athlete becomes his own media and can speak out on subjects that we didn't hear about before."
Asked about Olivier Giroud, who played centre forward when France won the World Cup two years ago, Benzema replied: "Everyone knows the difference between F1 and karting, and I'm F1."
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