French players Mutiny

[Cheeta]

Another article, this one with a slightly different twist. Says Duverne the conditioning coach was arguing with Domenech and not Evra.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer...-to-new-depths

Valentin, the team director says he's "ashamed" of the team.

Whoah....

Dosen't sound good. In any shape, way or form.

I can't help but side with players, for the most part, when they feel they are driven to these dramatic antics but there's a point at which you cross the line. Truth be told for quite a few members of this squad South Africa will be their last WC so a sign of solidarity becomes less meaningful, but damn. How does the French FA get away with allowing this? For the life of me I can't see an out for them.

Serious repercussions must follow.

[jpg75]

Domenech gives his opinion:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-c...cc=5901?ver=us

"I tried to convince them that what they were doing was an aberration, an imbecility, a stupidity without name," Domenech said Monday...

...Patrice Evra's role as captain could be over after only five games, with Domenech refusing to confirm him as his leader after the defender initiated the player walkout.

"I haven't picked the team yet, we will see tomorrow," Domenech said, adding of the players that "they've expended a lot of energy. It's sad."

When Domenech was asked if some players had told him they do not want to play the game, he answered evasively.

"It is a possibility that we will finalize [things] tonight with the staff to see what team we put in place," he said....

...Domenech said he spent more than 45 minutes trying to talk the players out of the strike, including when the players were on the team bus with the curtains closed. Other federation officials also tried, with one delegate even resigning over the incident, he said.

"At a certain point, I said to myself: 'Stop. We have to put an end to this charade' -- because that is what this was," Domenech said. "Something must be done. Everything was being broadcast live. The French and all the people who were asking themselves what was happening had a right to know. So I took the paper and I read it."

"What I should have said at the end is that in no way do I support this document or this attitude."

[the biologist]

Wow. Sorry for the big bump but this is simply too much.

Can someone please slap Domenech in the face, and then slap him again. This guy STILL doesn't understand that the more he puts the blame on everybody but himself, the more he ads "reals" in the expression "he's a real real real real [...] f*cking douchebag".

"All Domenech says is, 'It's the press, it's the press' " Big LOL...

PARIS -- Lawmakers taking part in a closed-door hearing about France's World Cup fiasco said Wednesday that coach Raymond Domenech refused to take any responsibility for his team's misbehavior and offered no real explanation for their debacle.

Lawmakers said Domenech, who is retiring, tried to pin blame on the media during the parliamentary hearing. Prominent lawmaker Jean-Francois Cope said his testimony "wasn't very dignified."

Many had kinder words for French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes, who plans to resign this week, and who also testified at the hearing held by the National Assembly's commission on culture and education.

The hearing went ahead despite a warning from FIFA about French government meddling in soccer affairs. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the country's national team risks suspension from global soccer if President Nicolas Sarkozy or political leaders interfere in the running of the federation.

Lawmakers retorted that it wasn't Blatter's place to tell them how to do their jobs.

"It isn't FIFA's role to threaten French lawmakers, we're in a democracy and parliamentarians have the right to hear anyone they want," said lawmaker Eric Ciotti.

"This isn't just about football, it's about France; it's our honor that's at stake," added lawmaker Jacques Remiller.

Remiller said the whole hearing was "disappointing and not convincing at all."

"There will have to be more resignations at the federation, because the problems are deeply, deeply rooted," he said.

The France team, which won the 1998 World Cup and was runner-up four years ago, lost twice and drew once to finish last in its group. Even worse, players went on strike at training after forward Nicolas Anelka was sent home for insulting Domenech.

Then Domenech added yet more dismay by refusing to shake hands with rival coach Carlos Alberto Parreira after France's 2-1 loss to host South Africa.

Lawmakers said Domenech blamed L'Equipe newspaper, which printed details of Anelka's expletive-laden tirade, for the disarray. Domenech also said the paper misquoted the comments.

"All Domenech says is, 'It's the press, it's the press,' " complained lawmaker Bernard Debre.

Domenech entered and left the hearing through a side door, carefully avoiding reporters.

Domenech told lawmakers he refused to shake hands with the South Africa coach because Parreira reportedly made disparaging comments about the French team to reporters, Cope said.

"You can find that a convincing argument, or not," he said, clearly indicating he didn't.

Cope added that lawmakers were planning to offer a series of measures to "modernize the governance of the French federation."

[beachesl]

The good thing about this is that it MAY cause the global situation concerning misgovernance of global football by FIFA and most of it's conitnental federations to come to a head, and deal with the elephants in the room.

It is easy for FIFA to sweep problems under the rug with small countries like El Salvador and Kenya, but if the French government is actually going to stand up to FIFA then the rubber may actually hit the road.

[kododude]

None of us actually expected France to end up being like this. They were once a strong team. And now they have been creating so much of controversy in this year’s world cup. If they don’t stay as a team outside the field, they won’t be performing well on the field during a match as well. I guess they will have to plan a new path to improve the skills, morale and the team spirit as well.

[jpg75]

All 23 players on the WCQ squad will be suspended for the friendly against Norway:

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=328291

PARIS -- France coach Laurent Blanc will drop all 23 World Cup players for his first match in charge next month as collective punishment for the team's embarrassing fiasco in South Africa.

The French federation said Friday it had granted Blanc permission to suspend the players.

[jpg75]

More stupidity from Anelka, just STFU already!:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer...over-world-cup

Anelka, who was sent home from South Africa for verbally abusing Domenech, told Thursday’s edition of France Soir newspaper that the former France coach “should be ashamed” after making “a casting mistake.”

Domenech criticized Anelka for playing out of position and threatened to take him off during halftime of the group match against Mexico on June 17, prompting Anelka to launch a profanity-laced tirade at the coach.

“My biggest regret is that I was not given the chance to play in my best position,” Anelka said. “If the coach wanted to take a player which stays in the box, he shouldn’t have picked me. He made a casting mistake.”