France Football Federation Verdict for Anelka, Evra, Ribery and Toulalan

August 17th, 2010 | by: Sarah |

Evra fight France Trainer

After the hearing held in Paris, which was only attended by Patrice Evra (who asked permission from his club to attend) and Jeremy Toulalan, the France Football Federation has released their verdict on the punishment of the five players determined to be liable for the team’s actions this summer.

Nicolas Anelka: 18 international games
Patrice Evra: 5 international games
Frank Ribery: 3 international games
Jeremy Toulalan: 1 international game

Eric Abidal, who was originally named as a member of the “leaders” of the World Cup nightmare, was not sanctioned.

Can’t say I’m shocked by the way their dished out the bans- not a shock that Anelka received the harshest punishment of the group since he has been cast as the character who started the snowball of events. I’m surprised there is such a drastic difference in the measure given to Anelka and Patrice Evra. Patrice Evra got into a physical fight, in front of reporters, with a member of the FFF staff. On top of that he was the captain of the squad and leader of the team. Despite that, I’m happy the FFF tempered his, Ribery’s and Toulalan’s punishment with consideration of their importance to this team and gave them a much reduced sentence.

This summer was a whirlwind of a series of escalating and dramatic events. Now that this has been decided, I’m ready to move on. I only hope that in the absences of these players, our younger players will be able to take this opportunity to steal their spot. I think we saw last week that some of them are doing just that. I want to end this short post with some words from our former FFF team director (who resigned in the midst of the scandal), Jean-Luis Valentin

I think now we must know how to turn the page and move on to something else. This was a very good dialogue that has lasted long enough. As a lover and supporter of the France team, I think everyone deserves a second chance.

Though, I’m not quite sure if that advice will be heeded by the criminal judge deciding Ribery’s legal matters…and I hope he’s not hinting that he wants his job back…

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http://france.worldcupblog.org Jeff

Yeah – I have no interest in Valentin campaigning the regain his post.
http://france.worldcupblog.org/ OffsideSarah

But absent the blatant job lobbying, I tend to agree with the sentiment…punish them, move on and make the team stronger..
Michel-Olivier

it should of been 20 international games for evra
http://france.worldcupblog.org/ OffsideSarah

Actually, my surprise is more that Abidal was not given a punishment. Afterall, he was the only squad member who said he didn't want to play vs South Africa….
trezegoal

5 games for starting a strike in the middle of the world cup and bringing shame to team and country???? absurd…
Adrian

Yeah it was surprising enough also for me.
IMHO, Abidal is not likely to be involved in Blanc's plan, though. Abidal is just not good at all at defending. He's not that good to wear Les Bleus' shirt. He was the reason France got knocked out in Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010.
Remember all his errors against Italy at Euro and his errors against Mexico at WC? Yeah, I just don't get it why Domenech kept prefering him to Mexes, Rami, etc.
Once Mexes played bad, Domenech dropped him out. But for Abidal, it seems that no matter how many mistakes Abidal had made, Domenech kept his faith on him.
What a poor coaching that cost France a World Cup.
http://france.worldcupblog.org/ Jean-François Racinet

The gap between Anelka & Evra's punishments is a big to large for me. They seem to have equally fucked over France. So their punishments should be about the same. Abidal's lack of punishment is a huge surprise. I guess we should be thankful that Toulalan only received a 1 match ban, after Norway I don't want to see much of Lass. As for Ribery, I honestly don't know what to say. I'll let Blanc decide Ribery's fate. Can't wait to see the squad Blanc dishes out come September.

I'm sure Chelsea is thrilled to see Anelka's punishment!
Mduduzi

Ahh well honestly Anelka doesn't care because he's retired from international football so an 18 match ban doesn't make a difference in his life besides he's better off without the France national team because they'll never win a thing until they replace Zidane.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Isabel-Ghose/528855744 Isabel Ghose

Would not be surprised to see France struggle in their first two matches with no Ribery, Gourcuff or Nasri.
http://france.worldcupblog.org/ OffsideSarah

Shazback- sorry your message was automatically flagged because of the html link. Sorry I didn't catch it sooner.
Clouseau

The UNFP (French player's union) said:

“Because they are disproportionate, the sanctions have no value. Instead, they will impede the progress of Laurent Blanc. The officials who voted for Raymond Domenech to stay in the job in 2008 went unpunished even though everyone knows that they were the real culprits.”

I am amazed how few here understand that a politically connected tarrot card reading lunatic (Domenech) was appointed by the political accultist lunatics at the FFF, and that these people are responsible for this mess, not Anelka. Anelka's “crime” was that he voiced what everyone already knew to be true – that the emperor had no clothes. You people need to wake up and focus on the FFF, not the players.

Zidane and several players had tried to get rid of Domenech after the 2006 world cup – however, they did not succeed. You can read abou that here: http://www.sportsfeatures.com/soccernews/story/44310/zidane-hits-back-in-domenech-row
Clouseau

Zidane tried to oust the tarrot card reading lunatic several years ago:

http://www.sportsfeatures.com/soccernews/story/44310/zidane-hits-back-in-domenech-row

Anelka's “crime” was to point out what everyone already knew – that the emperor has no clothes.

You people need to wake up and focus on the FFF.

Here is a more incisive statement by the UNFP:

“Because they are disproportionate, the sanctions have no value. Instead, they will impede the progress of Laurent Blanc. The officials who voted for Raymond Domenech to stay in the job in 2008 went unpunished even though everyone knows that they were the real culprits.”