Chelsea star Nicolas Anelka’s France career is almost certainly over after the striker was today handed a hefty 18-match ban from the French Football Federation (FFF) for his role in the country’s disastrous World Cup 2010 campaign.
Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra also recieved a five-match ban from the FFF for leading national team’s training ground strike following Anelka’s expulsion during the tournament.
Under-fire Bayern Munich attacker Franck Ribery and Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulanan were each handed three-game and one-game bans for their respective participation. Barcelona’s Eric Abidal, the fifth player summoned to the hearing, escaped unscathed.
After a controversial qualification to the 2010 World Cup, France’s international campaign soon descended into farce, after numerous reports of quarrels between squad members and now-former coach Raymond Domenech were reported.
After Anelka had gone public over his displeasure in the set-up and was sent home, the squad’s conflict reached an impasse, after the French team refused to train in protest, causing the side’s fitness coach Robert Duverne to throw his accreditation badge to the ground in disgust.
Following an embarrassing group exit, the FFF allowed new French manager Laurent Blanc to field a team comprised solely of players that had not participated in the summer’s tournament for last week’s international friendly against Norway. Today’s punishment was the culmination of a FFF disciplinary commission hearing following the South Africa performance.
Former team director Jean-Louis Valentin siad that “the players now realise that they should never have done such a thing,” as he left the FFF building today, adding that ‘they deserve another chance … Let’s close this chapter and start another one.’
