Nicolas Anelka banned for 18 France internationals
Nicolas Anelka received the stiffest punishment of five international players at a France Football Federation disciplinary hearing today as he was banned for 18 games for his conduct at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Chelsea striker was sent home in disgrace from the France camp in South Africa after an alleged foul-mouthed tirade at coach Raymond Domenech. In protest at the decision to remove Anelka from the squad, his team-mates went on strike and boycotted a training session.
Patrice Evra, who was captain of the team for the first two matches as Thierry Henry was left on the bench, was banned for five matches while vice-captain Franck Ribery was handed a three-game suspension. Jeremy Toulalan was banned for one game, while Eric Abidal escaped punishment for his part in the player revolt.
Evra and Ribery were called to the hearing after not performing their duties properly as senior players while Toulalan was seen as one of the ringleaders of the strike after he recruited his press officer to help the players draft a letter explaining their actions. Abidal, meanwhile, was summoned after refusing to play in France’s last game at the tournament, a 2-1 loss to the hosts in the group stage.
Did not attend hearing
Anelka did not attend the hearing while Ribery was not given permission to attend by his club Bayern Munich as they are set to kick-off their defence of the German Bundesliga title on Friday against Wolfsburg. However, the duo sent representatives to the hearing while the other three players attended along with Domenech, who has been replaced by Laurent Blanc as the national team coach.
Though it was felt necessary in many quarters important to hand out appropriate sanctions to those at the centre of the revolt, Jean-Louis Valentin, the former deputy managing director of the team, he felt that “as a lover of the French team, and as a supporter of the France team, I think that each player has the right to a second chance.”
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