Domenech defends decision to pack off Anelka
Source: Agencies |
June 21, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRANCE coach Raymond Domenech defended the decision to send Nicolas Anelka home, saying the striker had a chance to apologize for his profanity-laced outburst and that his refusal to do so justified his exclusion from the World Cup squad.
Anelka was sent home on Saturday, hours after revelations of his angry tirade was revealed by sports daily L'Equipe. "I gave him the chance to come and talk and to say sorry," Domenech said yesterday on French television show Telefoot. "He didn't want to and that's why I went along with (the French Football Federation), because it came out."
Domenech added that he does not have a personal grudge against Anelka, but that the FFF had no choice but to sack the striker from the squad once the news became public and the situation got out of control.
"In that sense, in a way, I say that the decision taken by the federation was the right one," Domenech said. "(Anelka) reacted in a way that was perhaps not the best but which is in line with his character."
Domenech blamed L'Equipe, which has had increasingly tense relations with the coach during the World Cup, for publishing details of the clash in such a virulent way.
Some observers have sympathized with Anelka, while others say Domenech's lack of leadership is to blame. Former France coach Gerard Houllier, who is now the technical director of the federation, says Domenech and his close entourage are impossible to cooperate with.
"He works independently, autocratically, to such an extent that the coach of the under-21 team did not even know the squad for the World Cup," he said. "They did their own thing in their corner. It shocked me a bit, now they have to face up to it."
Anelka was sent home on Saturday, hours after revelations of his angry tirade was revealed by sports daily L'Equipe. "I gave him the chance to come and talk and to say sorry," Domenech said yesterday on French television show Telefoot. "He didn't want to and that's why I went along with (the French Football Federation), because it came out."
Domenech added that he does not have a personal grudge against Anelka, but that the FFF had no choice but to sack the striker from the squad once the news became public and the situation got out of control.
"In that sense, in a way, I say that the decision taken by the federation was the right one," Domenech said. "(Anelka) reacted in a way that was perhaps not the best but which is in line with his character."
Domenech blamed L'Equipe, which has had increasingly tense relations with the coach during the World Cup, for publishing details of the clash in such a virulent way.
Some observers have sympathized with Anelka, while others say Domenech's lack of leadership is to blame. Former France coach Gerard Houllier, who is now the technical director of the federation, says Domenech and his close entourage are impossible to cooperate with.
"He works independently, autocratically, to such an extent that the coach of the under-21 team did not even know the squad for the World Cup," he said. "They did their own thing in their corner. It shocked me a bit, now they have to face up to it."
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