France's sports minister said Friday that national soccer coach Laurent Blanc is not a racist and that she does not, for now, believe he should resign over allegations he discussed with other coaches training limits for young players with dual nationality."He is not a racist man. To start with, look at the makeup of the France team, the central role given, for example, to Real Madrid striker] Karim Benzema.
Team France Jerseys He is not a racist man. We should give him our continued trust," sports minister Chantal Jouanno said."Today, I have no reason to say that Laurent Blanc should be accused. Let us keep our head on our shoulders. I have never heard him say racist things and I have never seen him do things that makes one think he is racist," she added.Inquiries ordered by her ministry and the French Football Federation are looking at the coaches' alleged discussion last November. Their comments were secretly recorded and later leaked to Mediapart, an online subscription news site.
Blanc, French federation technical director Francois Blaquart, under-21 coach Erick Mombaerts and under-20 coach Francis Smerecki discussed how to deal with young soccer players, many of them black and Arab, who could go on to play for countries other than France, according to Mediapart.There was discussion about whether a quota could be introduced to limit their numbers in training academies, Mediapart's transcript said. Blanc was quoted as saying that "it bothers me enormously" when players who represented France at youth level later "go to play in North African or African teams."Jouanno expects the probe launched by her ministry to be concluded early next week, after Blanc has been interviewed in the next few days. The French federation expects to deliberate on the findings Thursday.The minister urged outside observers not to jump to conclusions until the findings are known. She also said that she spoke to Blanc by telephone this week and t
hat he was "mortified by the comments attributed to him."
The scandal has divided former members of France's 1998 World Cup-winning team, which included Blanc and was hailed by many in France for its ethnic diversity,
Soccer Jerseys From China as well as for its soccer.Jouanno noted that "practically one quarter of French have a direct or indirect link with immigration" -- the result of France's long colonial history and of encouraging waves of workers to come from North Africa and elsewhere. She suggested that French soccer was richer because of the country's diverse makeup. Many of France's most famous players,
Puma Men Shoes, including Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, have immigrant backgrounds."What would the French team be without dual-nationality players?" Jouanno said. "Not much."
