Blatter warning: French Federation may face suspension if government interferes

FIFA PRESIDENT Sepp Blatter has warned that the French Football Federation could face suspension or expulsion from the world body if the government there interferes in its affairs in the wake of the national team’s chaotic exit from the competition here last week.

Jean-Pierre Escalettes, the head of the FFF announced his resignation on Monday, not long after the French minister for sport, Roselyne Bachelot, had said that she viewed his departure as unavoidable.

Both Escalettes and departing coach Raymond Domenech are due to testify in front of a parliamentary commission which is investigating the circumstances of the team’s humiliating departure from South Africa, nolt least the decision to send striker Nicolas Anelka home and the subsequent reaction of his fellow players.

“In France they have made an affaire d’Etat with football, but football remains in the hands of the federation,” Blatter said yesterday. “French football can rely on Fifa in case of political interference even if it is at presidential level, it is a clear message. We will help the national association and if the problem cannot be solved by consultation then the only thing we have is to suspend the federation.”

For such a sanction to be imposed on the federation of a major European footballing power would be remarkable and such situations are, in any case, usually resolved quite quickly. If France was suspended, however, the country would be banned from international tournaments and French clubs could not take part in European competitions.