France – what an absolute shambles

Thank you and goodbye

They arrived back at Le Bourget airport in the North of the city and, unsurprisingly, their were very few fans there to greet them.

Poor

The team self-imploded in South Africa. They were poor in their first game, a goalless draw with Uruguay, but it all started to go spectacularly wrong in the next game, a 2-0 defeat to Mexico. Nicolas Anelka was substituted at half-time and his foul-mouthed rant at manager Raymond Domenech eventually led to him being sent home from the tournament by the French Football Federation (FFF).

The rest of the players, seemingly led by captain Patrice Evra, wanted Anelka to stay and they took the unprecedented step of going on strike and refusing to train on the Sunday before their crucial final game against the host nation on Tuesday.

The statement of the players regarding that action was read to the world by Domenech, who later said that he was totally against what they had said and done and fully supported the decision to send Anelka home. He did not make that clear at the time.

The FFF has stated that it will meet next month to discuss why the campaign went so horribly wrong, but it looks as though the matter will be discussed in great detail before then

Dropped
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Patrice Evra, who was dropped by Domenech for the match against South Africa which they lost 2-1, said he was keen to make public what had gone on behind closed doors.

“I promise to tell the truth about every minute of what I went through. French people need to know the truth because the France team belongs to them and nobody else. It’s time for us to apologise. It hurts even more because that could have been done on Monday. I could have done it as the team captain but the coach would not let me.”

Star

It is reported that star striker Thierry Henry, who only appeared in the tournament as a substitute, was taken directly from the plane on arrival to the Elysee Palace for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The President had held a meeting on Wednesday with his ministers to discuss what had gone wrong. A statement from his office read,

“The head of state asked the ministers to ensure that those responsible learn the lessons of this disaster quickly. He also asked the ministers to ensure that no financial reward is given.”

Payment

The team returned to France in Economy class as their tickets were downgraded and the squad will not receive any bonuses or payment from private sponsors.

Sarkozy, together with Prime Minister Francois Fillon and sports minister Roselyne Bachelot, as well as the rest of the French people, want to understand how they could fail so dismally after reaching the final and only losing on penalties just four years ago.

Bonuses

The sports minister believes that the head of the FFF will have to go. She is content that the players have not been paid any bonuses and Domenech is leaving to be replaced by Laurent Blanc. She told a French radio station,

“The departure of Jean-Pierre Escalettes is not something I want but I find it inevitable. The players have not received any remuneration, the coach is going so the last part of this disaster is the federation.”

Clown

At the start of the tournament I asked the question, is Domenech a clown? The past few weeks have confirmed that he is and his refusal to shake hands with South Africa manager Carlos Alberto Parreira after the game on Tuesday showed just what a total and utter lack of class the man has. FIFA haven’t decided whether or not to take action against him for that rudeness. I hope they do.

The fact that the Government and President of France have got involved shows just what a national disgrace and humiliation this tournament has been. The manager, the players, the federation and everyone else involved in the seedy and unpleasant episode come out with absolutely no credit whatever.

One newspaper in France carried a photograph of Domenech and the caption, “Thank you and goodbye”. I think the same could be said to most of the players as well.