France striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home from the World Cup after refusing to apologize and not because of his insults, coach Raymond Domenech said yesterday.
Anelka was kicked out of the French squad on Saturday after insulting Domenech at halftime during their 2-0 defeat by Mexico in their Group A game in Polokwane on Thursday.
The player’s remarks were printed on the front page of French sports daily L’Equipe on Saturday and later that day the French Football Federation (FFF) decided to send Anelka home.
PHOTO: AFP
L’Equipe claimed the Chelsea forward told Domenech to “go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore” after the coach criticized his first-half performance.
“The only thing I reproach him [for] is that I gave him a chance to speak about it the next day and he refused,” Domenech told French television channel TF1.
“People don’t imagine the pressure we have,” the coach said when asked why Anelka had insulted him. “When the coach makes remarks, a player can lose his nerve and have words.”
Domenech, who decided after hearing the insults to take Anelka off for the second half, said the problem could have been resolved internally if the insults had not been published.
“It became important because it was in the newspaper,” he said. “I had solved the problem because I had taken him off.”
French media suggested yesterday that Anelka’s attitude was not the only problem in France’s troubled squad and reported rival playmakers Yoann Gourcuff and Franck Ribery had a fight on the flight back from Polokwane.
“That’s absolute nonsense,” Domenech said when asked about the report. “Those who know Yoann a bit know it is totally impossible for him to fight with anybody.”
Anelka’s exclusion laid bare the divisions within the French camp in a disastrous World Cup campaign when captain Patrice Evra refused to condemn the striker, but said there was a “traitor” in the squad who had leaked the bust-up to the media.
“Anelka’s remarks are totally unacceptable for the FFF, French football and the values it defends,” an FFF statement said. “The president of the FFF, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, asked Nicolas Anelka, in the presence of captain Patrice Evra, to apologize. With the refusal of the player to publicly apologize, it was decided in full agreement with the coach and members of the delegation in Knysna to exclude Nicolas Anelka from the squad.”
Anelka admitted having a “heated discussion” with Domenech, but denied using the words quoted.
“I certainly had a heated discussion with the coach, but it happened in the sanctity of the dressing room, between the coach and I, in front of my teammates and the team’s staff. This should never have left the dressing room,” the 31-year-old striker told the France-Soir newspaper. “I insist that the words which have come out in the press are not my words.”
A clearly uncomfortable Evra told a tense press conference: “The team’s problem is not Anelka, but the traitor in our ranks. We have to eliminate this traitor from the squad. This comes from someone in the squad who wants to hurt the France team.”
If their Group A rivals Uruguay and Mexico draw their final group match tomorrow, France will fail to qualify for the last 16 regardless of their own result against host nation South Africa.
The French training camp has reportedly been riven with disputes between Domenech and his players since they arrived in South Africa.
Bernard Saules, a senior member of the FFF, hit out at the attitude of Anelka and other under-performing players.
“We are the only team at the World Cup who aren’t playing for their country’s pride. We need to push out some of these little shits,” he said.
In France, the Quick Burger restaurant chain announced it was withdrawing advertising material featuring Anelka.
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