Booing France “a form of racism” – Domenech

France coach Raymond Domenech on Thursday said the jeering of his players during their 1-0 friendly defeat to Nigeria on Tuesday was “a form of racism”.

The 1998 World Cup winners were whistled at throughout by a less than appreciative St Etienne crowd, who reserved most of their ire for players from local rivals Lyon.

“It’s a form of racism, whistling at players because they don’t belong to your club,” said Domenech, himself a former Lyon player, whose side take on Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey in another friendly in Lyon on Friday.

“I’ll never stomach it, like I’ll never stomach the other forms of racism.

“The other (whistles) are understandable (due to the defeat), but the whistles when (Lyon players) Karim Benzema and Sidney Govou came on I will never accept. It’s absurd and it always will be.”

Benzema, 21, has endured a disappointing season, having seen his club side fail to win the French title for the first time since 2001 and struggling to nail down a starting place in the French first XI.

Domenech revealed that, although Benzema had shrugged off the incident, he had clearly been unsettled by it.

“Karim was affected,” the French coach said. “At 20 or 21 it’s not always obvious. He pretended not to be, he said the opposite, but it’s clear to see, he reacted in a different way.

“I felt that he was really affected. You can be prepared for anything, but when it happens it’s never as you expect.”

France’s unconvincing start to their World Cup qualifying campaign means they are currently two points behind leaders Serbia in European group seven with five games remaining, and Domenech believes the only way to get the fans back onside is to produce some better performances on the pitch.

“It’s up to us to have the attitude and the performances to make sure people don’t have to react,” he said.

“The players always want to react, to play well, to perform.

“They were a bit shocked (against Nigeria) and we cannot play in the same way again. I hope they have learned their lesson. If we make the same mistakes twice, it’s a concern.”

France’s World Cup qualifying campaign resumes on August 12 with a trip to perennial whipping boys the Faroe Islands, followed by a home encounter with second-bottom Romania on September 5.