Thick air in France!
In a radio interview, association president Noel le Graet (81) claimed that he was not interested in talking to Zinedine Zidane (50) before the contract was extended with national coach Didier Deschamps (54).
Zinedine Zidane won the Champions League three times as a coach with Real Madrid
Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP
For Kylian Mbappé (24) an insult to majesty. The PSG superstar immediately responded on Twitter, writing: “Zidane is France, we don’t treat this legend so disrespectfully.”
What happened?
In the interview, football boss le Graet was asked if Zidane had called him to express his interest in Deschamps’ job. The official’s clear answer: “I wouldn’t even have answered the phone. What should I have said to him? ‘Hello sir, don’t worry, find another club. I’ve just agreed a contract with Didier.’”
background: Ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, it was almost certain that Zidane would take over the Équipe Tricolore after the tournament as Deschamps’ original contract expired at the end of the year. However, both parties then agreed, and the contract was extended until 2026 with Deschamps, the world champion coach from 2018.
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France football legend Zidane has been without a job since leaving Real Madrid in the summer of 2021. Recently there were rumors that he could also become the new Brazilian national coach.
Le Graet: “I would be surprised if he went there. But he does what he wants, it’s none of my business. He can go where he wants, to a big club, a national team.”
Mbappé was not the only one in France who was annoyed by these statements. Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (44) also got the sentences upset. She spoke of a “shameful lack of respect” and asked le Graet to apologize to the “legend of football and sport”.
And Real Madrid also joined in the criticism of France’s football boss. In an official statement, the club “deplores the unfortunate comments made by the President of the French Football Federation, Nöel Le Graët, about Zinedine Zidane, one of the greatest legends in world sport.”
It continued: “These words are disrespectful to one of the figures most admired by football fans around the world and our club expects an immediate rectification.”
