January 8, 2023, 7:51 PM
January 8, 2023, 7:51 PM
“I wouldn’t even have answered the phone to Zinédine Zidane”, declared the president of the French Football Federation (FBF) Noel Le Graet, this Sunday on RMC radio, a day after renewing Didier Deschamps as coach until 2026.
Asked if Zidane, who seemed the number 1 option to replace Deschamps, had called him in recent days, Le Graet was forceful with the French football legend.
“I wouldn’t have answered the phone. To tell him what, ‘Hello sir, don’t worry, find another club?I just reached an agreement with Didier’?” Le Graet said.
The 81-year-old president of the FFF was also very dry when asked about the information linking Zidane with the bench of the Brazilian team.
“I’d be surprised if he went there. You can do whatever you want, it doesn’t concern me. We have not met and we have never considered parting ways with Didier Deschamps,” he said.
“I have no one to save, you can go where you want, a club, they will have many who love them in Europe, a great club”, he added.
Le Graet’s statements were criticized by Les Bleus star Kylian Mbappé. “Zidane is France, you can’t disrespect the legend like that”wrote the PSG player on Twitter.
The Minister of Sports of France, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, also reacted, whoHe asked Le Graet to apologize.
“It is a shameful lack of respect, which offends us all, to a football and sports legend. A president of the first sports federation in France should not say that. I ask you to apologize for these excessive words about Zidane,” the minister wrote on Twitter.
