France ignores warnings, meddles in FIFA affairs
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has given a warning to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to stop meddling in the running of the national football team. If France’s government continues to interfere the country may be banned from international football.
Sarkozy vowed to investigate what happened with the French team at the World Cup after Les Blues were eliminated, finishing at the bottom of their group. The team was riddled with problems from the get go, performing badly on and off the pitch and always in the public eye.
FIFA does not approve of political interference, “even if it is at presidential level,” said Blatter. The national team risk suspension from global soccer if political leaders continue to interfere with the running of the federation.
Is France taking the issue too far? Their wounded pride could cost them the opportunity to overcome a dismal performance this year and come back stronger next time. “This isn’t just about football” said one lawmaker Jacques Remiller, “It’s about France; it’s our honor that’s at stake.” After France was eliminated in the group stage, French sports minister Roselyn Bachelot was asked by the nation’s president to look into these matters, citing the “indignation of the French people” as the initiating factor.
Trouble began when forward Nikolas Anelka was sent home after insulting coach Raymond Domenech. Following his disqualification from the Cup, the rest of his team staged a protest refusing to practice. This stunt took place the morning before France was scheduled to play host South Africa. In an act of consolidation led by Captain Patrice Evra the teammates locked themselves on their bus and left Domenech to defend the team in front of the media.
Evra did not play during France’s last and crucial match against South Africa, and was stripped of his captaincy by Domenech. Domenech refused to shake the hand of Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira after the match, and will not be returning to coach the French team. He will be replaced by 1998 World Cup winner (as a player) Laurent Blanc.
French Lawmakers held a closed door meeting on Wednesday to discuss the fiascos. The meeting went ahead despite warnings from FIFA to cease their investigations. Lawmakers retorted that Blatter had no right or place to tell them how to do their jobs.
During the hearing, Domenech could not provide a valid explanation for his team’s behaviour. Instead of taking some of the fall Domenech refused to take responsibility for the team’s actions. He even tried to blame the media during the parliamentary hearing, of which one lawmaker said his testimony “wasn’t very dignified.”
According to Domenech the French newspaper L’Equipe printed details about Anelka’s tirade and misquoted comments. “All Domenech said is, ‘It’s the press, it’s the press,” said Bernard Debre, another lawmaker present at the hearing. When asked to explain his unsportsmanlike behavior after the South Africa match, Domenech said he didn’t shake Parreira’s hand because the South African coach had reportedly made disparaging comments to the media about the French team.
France won the 1998 World Cup, and was the runner up in 2006. Their team played disappointingly this year however, losing twice and drawing once. Their entry into the World Cup was controversial as well. In a match between Ireland Henry Thierry handled ball twice to set up the winning goal that sent the team to South Africa. Of his team’s performance at the World Cup this year, Florent Malouda stated:
“It's a complete disaster that we chose to express ourselves like this . . . We honestly didn't know it would affect people so much. We could not imagine what would come after that. We're really sorry for the French population and the French fans. That's not what we want to show.”
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has given a warning to French President Nikolas Sarkozy to stop meddling in the running of the national football team. If France’s government continues to interfere the country may be banned from international football.
Sarkozy vowed to investigate what happened with the French team at the World Cup after Les Blues were eliminated, finishing at the bottom of their group. The team was riddled with problems from the get go, performing badly on and off the pitch and always in the public eye.
FIFA does not approve of political interference, “even if it is at presidential level,” said Blatter. The national team risk suspension from global soccer if political leaders continue to interfere with the running of the federation.
Is France taking the issue too far? Their wounded pride could cost them the opportunity to overcome a dismal performance this year and come back stronger next time. “This isn’t just about football” said one lawmaker Jacques Remiller, “It’s about France; it’s our honor that’s at stake.” After France was eliminated in the group stage, French sports minister Roselyn Bachelot was asked by the nation’s president to look into these matters, citing the “indignation of the French people” as the initiating factor.
Trouble began when forward Nikolas Anelka was sent home after insulting coach Raymond Domenech. Following his disqualification from the Cup, the rest of his team staged a protest refusing to practice. This stunt took place the morning before France was scheduled to play host South Africa. In an act of consolidation led by Captain Patrice Evra the teammates locked themselves on their bus and left Domenech to defend the team in front of the media.
Evra did not play during France’s last and crucial match against South Africa, and was stripped of his captaincy by Domenech. Domenech refused to shake the hand of Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira after the match, and will not be returning to coach the French team. He will be replaced by 1998 World Cup winner (as a player) Laurent Blanc.
French Lawmakers held a closed door meeting on Wednesday to discuss the fiascos. The meeting went ahead despite warnings from FIFA to cease their investigations. Lawmakers retorted that it Blatter had no right or place to tell them how to do their jobs.
During the hearing, Domenech could not provide a valid explanation for his team’s behavior. Instead of taking some of the fall Domenech refused to take responsibility for the team’s actions. He even tried to blame the media during the parliamentary hearing, of which one lawmaker said his testimony “wasn’t very dignified.”
According to Domenech the French newspaper L’Equipe printed details about Anelka’s tirade and misquoted comments. “All Domenech said is, ‘It’s the press, it’s the press,” said Bernard Debre, another lawmaker present at the hearing. When asked to explain his unsportsmanlike behavior after the South Africa match, Domenech said he didn’t shake Parreira’s hand because the South African coach had reportedly made disparaging comments to the media about the French team.
France won the 1998 World Cup, and was the runner up in 2006. Their team played disappointingly this year however, losing twice and drawing once. Their entry into the World Cup was controversial as well. In a match between Ireland Henry Thierry scored the winning goal, a hand ball goal that sent the team packing for South Africa. Of his team’s performance at the World Cup this year, Florent Malouda stated:
“It's a complete disaster that we chose to express ourselves like this . . . We honestly didn't know it would affect people so much. We could not imagine what would come after that. We're really sorry for the French population and the French fans. That's not what we want to show.”
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