Noel Le Grey, President of the French Football Federation, apologized for remarks about French football star Zinedine Zidane and Le Grey said: “These inappropriate statements have caused misunderstandings between Zidane as a player and coach.” I admit that I made inappropriate statements that led to a misunderstanding. Zinedine Zidane knows that I really appreciate him, like all French people.” Zidane, who won the 1998 World Cup title in his professional career with the French national team and had great success in training with Real Madrid, was a candidate to take over coaching the French national team, but the French Federation announced on Saturday the extension of the contract of coach Didier Deschamps until 2026 and Le Gray launched an attack on Zidane. During an interview yesterday, on Sunday, when asked about Zidane’s options as Brazil coach after the opportunity to coach the French national team was squandered; He said, “He can do whatever he wants, it’s none of my business.” He added: “He won’t answer the phone if Zidane calls him.
The first reaction to the statements of the President of the French Federation was Amélie Odia Castera, Minister of Sports of France, who commented on Gray’s statements through her official Twitter account, saying: “The statements are out of context again, with the addition of a shameful disrespect that this offends us all, and a legend of football and sports.” And she continued: “The president of the sports federation in France should not say that. Zidane, please.”
For his part, France and Paris Saint-Germain striker and top scorer for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Kylian Mbappe, criticized the comments of his country’s FA president, deeming them to be “disrespectful to the legend”. “, who won the 1998 World Cup, and said: “Zidane is France.. We should not be so disrespectful to the legend.”
Real Madrid also condemned Le Grey’s statements in a statement yesterday.
