The renewal of the French coach,
Didier Deschamps
, has caused a sports earthquake in the country, after the president of the French Football Federation (FFF),
Noël Le Graët, mocked Zinedine Zidane when asked if he could be his replacement
.
Kylian Mbappé
and other footballers have come out in his defense and Real Madrid and even the French Sports Minister,
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra,
have demanded an apology.
Noël Le Graët, who has been forced to rectify after the avalanche of criticism, said on Sunday that if Zidane had tried to contact him to be a coach
"he would not even have picked up the phone."
"To tell him what? Don't bother, find another club, we've already reached an agreement with Didier
," Le Graët told RMC radio after announcing Deschamps' renewal as coach until 2026. Real Madrid were teammates in the 1998 World Cup champion France.
The derogatory words about Zidane, a legend in France and probably the best footballer the country has ever had, have caused deep discomfort and
this morning the manager had to apologize for his "clumsy statements
".
Sports and political personalities have disapproved of his words and have been in defense of the former Real Madrid footballer and coach.
The sports newspaper
L'Equipe
headlines its cover with "Unacceptable", on the photo of the president of the FFF.
A legend
PSG star
Kylian Mbappé has pointed out that "Zidane is France, let's not disrespect a legend..."
, he said on Twitter.
Former footballer
Franck Ribéry
has also requested an apology on this social network.
"
A president of the French Sports Federation should not say that.
I apologize to Zidane," demanded Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, head of Sports.
Real Madrid has regretted "the unfortunate statements" made by Le Graët, 80 years old and whose term ends in 2024. "
These words show a lack of respect towards one of the figures most admired by football fans around the world
and our club expects an immediate rectification," the club said in a statement.
improper statements
On Twitter, the Paris firefighters have ridiculed the president of the FFF and have supported the French star.
"We have received 16,220,980 calls at the alert centers and none from Zinedine Zidane! Although we would love for him to call us. We would surely catch him!" He pointed out in a tweet.
"The statements by the president of the French Football Federation are inappropriate for someone who holds that representation and disqualify themselves, like the ones he also makes about our captain Karim Benzema
," Real Madrid added in its statement.
These unfortunate statements come just as France has just been runner-up in the World Cup in Qatar.
Le Graët already generated controversy in this championship when
he opposed the captain of the French team, Hugo Lloris, wearing the rainbow bracelet
to protest against the persecution of homosexuals in the country.
In fact, Le Graët has been in the spotlight for some time
, after complaints about "harassment and inappropriate behavior" by some employees
.
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