PARIS, (Reuters) – France players involved in this year’s World Cup farce should get lifetime bans, UEFA president Michel Platini said yesterday.
Platini was asked about the players’ strike in support of forward Nicolas Anelka, who was kicked out of the squad in South Africa for insulting coach Raymond Domenech
“It’s pathetic. They’re bloody fools,” Platini told So Foot magazine.
“I would have been tougher with the players who went on strike, I would have handed them a lifetime ban.”
Platini, who helped France win the 1984 European Championship, became France coach in 1988, making little impact before stepping down following a first-round exit at the Euro 1992 finals.
“Even (Jose) Mourinho would not have done better,” he said. “My reproach to him is that (…) he protected his players, who let him down.”
France were knocked out in the first round in South Africa after grabbing only one point from three games.
Domenech was fired and Anelka was handed an 18-match ban. Franck Ribery, then captain Patrice Evra and Jeremy Toulalan were also sanctioned.
