French players on strike over Nicolas Anelka exclusion

June 20, 2010 - PRLog -- The incident that triggered the tirade was caused by the dissatisfaction of Domenech with the positioning of Anelka at half-time on Thursday, during their 2-0 World Cup loss to Mexico, in a match where the striker was one of France's worst performers.

Domenech had given instructions to the Chelsea forward, who was not amused and insulted the coach by saying;  "go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore", in the dressing room at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, resulting in Anelka’s replacement by Gignac.

Because Anelka refused to make a public apology, the FFF decided in full agreement with the coach and the other members of the French delegation to exclude Nicolas Anelka from the group. The player was order to pack his bags and return to France.

Defender and captain of France, Patrice Evra, said on Saturday that “we must eliminate the traitor of the group” after the revelation made by the newspaper L'Equipe of insults from Nicolas Anelka to coach Raymond Domenech.

"We are in an awful position after the catastrophic defeat with Mexico and now we lost a teammate (Anelka). The problem of France is not Anelka, but the traitor among us. Now we must eliminate him from the group”, said the left back.

Asked about the identity of the 'traitor', Evra responded ironically: "There is a small mouse in the dressing room. This came from someone within the group that wants to undermine the French team”.

Today the situation in France’s squad worsened in the last hours and was on the verge of physical confrontation between the captain, Patrice Evra, and fitness coach Robert Duverne.

After that, players humiliated Domenech, forcing him to read a statement to journalists. The Federation's sporting director, Jean-Louis Valentin, resigned shortly afterwards.

The French internationals are asking for the return of Anelka to the team, refusing to let him be the scapegoat of the problems of the French national team in this World Cup, where the team has not won any game or even scored a goal.

The government in Paris yesterday tried to calm the crisis in the squad and latent violence in the group, calling for "dignity by all".

But the appeal had no echo in South Africa, where nothing works right now within the French team whose players have launched the "hunt the traitor" who passed information about the insults of Anelka to journalists.

"What is happening is a shame for France, the team is shattered, we must build the team from new in the future and start by firing all the leaders of the French professional football," said this afternoon a commentator on French television.

"The French squad is currently living in a climate of civil war," commented one observer, this morning, in a debate on French television.

At the moment no one is even sure if France will attend next Tuesday’s match against South Africa.

More news and information about South Africa and the 2010 World Cup can be found at: http://www.2010-southafrica.com

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