“Zinédine Zidane, I wouldn’t even have taken him on the phone” : the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët wreaked havoc in French football on Sunday January 8, by charging the legend of the Blues Zinédine Zidane, an outing which drew the wrath of Kylian Mbappé and the Minister of Sports.
The president of the French Football Federation was questioned on Sunday on RMC on the case of Zidane, while Didier Deschamps has just been extended at the head of the Blues until 2026. The former coach of Real Madrid no longer hides his desire to one day become coach of the France team. But rumors lend him a departure abroad, possibly with the Brazilian team.
“I wouldn’t even have taken him on the phone”, launched Noël Le Graët on RMC. ” To tell him what? “Hello sir, don’t worry, look for another club, I just agreed with Didier”? »
As for a possible departure for Brazil of Zinédine Zidane, the president of the FFF confided that this “would astonish him”.
“He does what he wants, that’s none of my business. I never met him and we never considered parting with Didier Deschamps. I don’t care, he can go where he wants, in a club, he would have as many as he wants in Europe, a big club. A selection, I hardly believe it as far as I’m concerned. »
The Minister of Sports asks for an apology
Very dry words that shocked the world of football. Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera lambasted on Twitter “statements again above ground with the added bonus this time of a shameful lack of respect, which offends us all, to a legend of football and sport: a president of the first sports federation in France should not say that. Apologies for this too much word about Z. Zidane please. »
The star of the Blues Kylian Mbappé also criticized these remarks on Twitter: “Zidane is France, we don’t disrespect the legend like that”, he reacted.
The sports press, both French and Spanish, also had little taste for the declarations of Noël Le Graët: “l’Equipe” denounced remarks on Monday “contemptuous” by simply titling: “Unacceptable! “.
The controversy could well further aggravate the case of Noël Le Graet, who is to be heard on Tuesday by the audit mission on the malfunctions at the FFF, whose conclusions are expected in early February. This mission investigates recent scandals within the Federation, some of which involve the alleged behavior “ inappropriate of its president.
