The president of the French Football Federation (FFF) on Monday apologized to Zinedine Zidane for “inappropriate” comments he made about the former Gallia international, for which he was heavily criticized and urged to recant his retraction.
“I want to apologize for the statements that absolutely do not reflect my opinion, nor my attention to the player he was and the coach he became,” Noël Le Graët wrote in a statement released Monday.
On Sunday, in an interview with RMC Sport radio, hours after the FFF extended the contract with coach Didier Deschamps until 2026, Le Graët made disrespectful remarks about Zidane, who was being mentioned by some press as a possible successor to the current vice-president. coach world champions.
“If Zidane tried to talk to me, I wouldn’t even talk to him. What would I say to him? Probably: Hello sir, don’t bother, find another club. I just settled everything with Didier.” [Deschamps]said the leader of the FFF.
Asked about the possibility of Zidane taking Tite’s place at the head of the Brazil national team, Noël Le Graët was again unkind to the former France international.
“Zidane in Brazil? I don’t know, I would be surprised. But I don’t care if he goes where he wants,” said the president of French football’s highest body, adding: “You are very pro -Zidane, dedicate a program to him to find a club or a national team”.
In the statement apologizing, the president of the FFF assumes that he should not have given the interview because “they were looking for controversy, to Didier [Deschamps] to Zidane, two monuments of French football”.
The statements which, according to Le Graët, “caused a misunderstanding” were criticized by Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera, who demanded an apology from Zidane, world champion with France in 1998 and European champion in 2000.
“It is a shameful disrespect, which offends us all, towards a legend of football and sport. A ‘president’ should not say this,” the minister wrote on the social network Twitter.
Explanations of nouveau hors sol avec en prime cette fois un manque de respect honteux, qui nous heurte tous, à une légende du foot et du sport: un “président” de la première sportive de France ne devrait pas dire ça.
Apologies for the victory over Z.Zidane please. https://t.co/FUdE76nBz0– Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (@AOC1978) January 8, 2023
French international Kylian Mbappé also responded to the comments, saying on social media: “Zidane is France, you can’t disrespect such a legend.”
Zidane c”est la France, on manque pas de respect à la légende comme ça… ♂️
– Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappé) January 8, 2023
Real Madrid, the club where Zidane made history as a player and coach, said in a statement that the words of the FFF chairman “show a lack of respect for one of the most admired figures in world football” and demanded a public apology to Zidane. , who left the technical management of the ‘meringues’ in May 2021.
Source: DN
