FIFA President warns French leader to stay out of soccer
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is sending a ''clear and clean message'' to French President Nicolas Sarkozy not to get involved in the country's soccer organization. Sarkozy previously announced he would personally be leading the investigation into what happened to cause France's soccer team to exit the 2010 FIFA South Africa World Cup in such calamitous disgrace.
Blatter warned on Tuesday that taking soccer affairs out of the hands of FIFA and the French Football Federation could lead to the team getting suspended from international soccer play, which is controlled and regulated by FIFA.
"In France they have made an 'affaire d'Etat' [business of state] with football, but football remains in the hands of the federation," Blatter said. "French football can rely on FIFA in case of political interference even if it is at presidential level, it is a clear message.
"We will help the national association and if it cannot be solved by consultation then the only thing we have is to suspend the federation."
FIFA has been willing to suspend organizations in the past, such as when they suspended Greece in 2006, Iraq in 2008 and barred Ethiopia from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Any political meddling is taboo with FIFA, which insists only independent soccer federations control soccer.
Regardless of France's size, they will be punished for interference, said Blatter.
''Definitely, I can tell you that political interference will be dealt with by FIFA notwithstanding what kind of interference and what is the size of the country," he said Tuesday.
The French tale d'ennui
The French team were the pariahs of the tournament after having limped in through beating Ireland in a play-off qualification match after a Thierry Henry handball went uncalled by the referee. They did themselves no favours at the tournament, playing to an uninspiring draw with Uruguay before losing to Mexico 2-0, and then dropping their final match to host South Africa 2-1 to be eliminated with just a single point.
Even more spectacular than their on-field futility was the very public infighting that occurred within the team. Striker Nicolas Anelka went on a profanity-laced tirade against coach Raymond Domenech at half-time and then refused to apologize, being sent home for his actions. The team protested and refused to train, with captain Patrice Evra angrily promising to hunt out the "traitor" who had leaked the story of the rant to the press.
A public blow-up at practice saw the team retreat to their team bus and refuse to come out at Domenech's urging, instead forcing him to read a team statement condemning the decision to send Anelka home. Meanwhile pressure mounted on France's governing party to do something about the fiasco, with Sports Minister Roselyne Bachot calling and berating the team, apparently reducing some of them to tears.
Sarkozy promises to do something about it
The warning from Blatter comes after Sarkozy met with former French captain Thierry Henry to attempt to sort out the shambles of the tournament and get his take on what went wrong. Both Henry and Evra apologized for their role in the refusal to protest and the bus incident.
"The head of state asked the ministers to ensure that those responsible learn the lessons of this disaster quickly," Sarkozy's office said in a statement after the French team returned home. "He also asked the ministers to ensure that no financial reward is given."
He has assigned Bachot to look into the matter as well, and some French players such as Henry have agreed to take home no money from the tournament, including what was given to them by private sponsors.
This isn't the first time Sarkozy has found himself involved in French soccer politics. After Thierry Henry handballed France's way into the World Cup, eliminating Ireland in the process, Ireland's prime minister personally protested to Sarkozy at a summit.
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