DID you know that there is no word in the French language for harmony?
Look it up in le dictionnaire and you’ll see they have deleted it.*
The decision has apparently been taken as a result of Paul Pogba’s extraordinary accusations of extortion against his own brother.
The former Manchester United star alleges that elder sibling Mathias was part of an armed gang who tried to squeeze him for £11million in protection money.
Mathias denies those suggestions and has countered with a claim that his petit frere paid a witch doctor to cast a spell on France team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Mathias has since gone on to describe the multi-millionaire midfielder as a “coward, traitor and hypocrite.”
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Which member of this dysfunctional family is telling the truth?
Who knows and who cares? Because this is just the latest chapter in a long-running series of sporting scandals which have rocked the French nation and royally entertained the rest of us.
For our Gallic chums have a long and squalid history of internecine warfare.
It was only last November that Karim Benzema was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence for his part in a plot to blackmail Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.
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Around the same time, Kheira Hamraoui was dragged from the car of her French team-mate Aminata Diallo and beaten on the legs with iron bars by masked men.
Diallo ended up spending 36 hours in police custody on suspicion of organising the assault, before being released without charge.
Soon after, it emerged that Hamraoui had been having an affair with Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal while she was playing for the Spanish club.
And earlier last year, William Saliba was sanctioned by the French FA for filming an unidentified team-mate, erm, pleasuring himself in the dressing-room.
And who could ever forget the fun and games at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when the entire French squad went on strike after sulky striker Nicolas Anelka had been sent home for arguing with manager Raymond Domenech?
HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF
So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by this latest scandal involving the pugnacious Pogbas.
National team boss Didier Deschamps must look on and despair at the latest sideshow now overshadowing his World Cup preparations.
Yet even though keeping control of a toxic dressing-room must require the patience of a saint herding cats, you still wouldn’t bet against France lifting the trophy in Qatar.
Because as much as we might scoff at Les Bickering Bleus, they’ve still won a damned sight more than England over the years.
So maybe Gareth Southgate should forget about team bonding sessions and organise a few punch-ups instead.
*This is not true — but it should be.
A REAL CONN TRICK
FOOTBALL’S moral guardians have been up in arms all week over Richarlison’s little spot of keepy-uppy at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.
But his antics didn’t even begin to compare to those of former Spurs star Alfie Conn, who famously sat on the ball against Leeds way back in 1975.
To add insult to injury, it happened in the final game of the season — a match which Tottenham had to win to avoid relegation.
With a European Cup final in Paris just around the corner, Leeds weren’t exactly busting a gut that day at White Hart Lane and were already 3-0 down when Conn decided to take a cheeky breather.
But a furious half-time visit to the home dressing room made it clear that they might just start trying if Conn carried on taking the p***.
Message well and truly received, Spurs were on their best behaviour from then on, winning 4-2 to send Chelsea and Luton down by a single point.
And that’s what you call proper s***housing.
NOT BAD FOR RAD
SAY what you want about Emma Raducanu but at least she’s consistent.
Her first-round loss at the US Open was, sadly, no surprise — and as a result she will drop to 82nd place in the next WTA rankings.
But maybe that will prove to be a blessing in disguise for the 19-year-old who has been burdened by the weight of expectation ever since her remarkable triumph at Flushing Meadows last year.
Not so much a reality check for Raducanu herself but for the army of deluded fans and sponsors who believed she was going to win every time she stepped on to court.
STILL ODD BY RON
STILL waiting with bated breath for the promised Cristiano Ronaldo interview which will reveal ‘the truth’ about his Old Trafford situation.
Odd that Ron has chosen to wait until the transfer window has closed before dropping his bombshell.
But I am sure he will confirm he is absolutely loving life on the Manchester United bench and never had any intention of quitting the club.
TY MIND GAMES
TYSON FURY has executed more U-turns than the British School of Motoring these past couple of months and now insists he is definitely NOT retiring.
The prospect of a £500million unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk has made the Gypsy King think twice about giving up his WBC belt.
But promoter Frank Warren had better get his skates on to organise the fight.
Because this time next week Fury will have changed his mind another half dozen times.
LIFE’S A PITCH
I KNOW there’s a drought on but has the groundsman at St Mary’s been on holiday all summer or what?
I only ask because the pitch at Southampton resembled a cow field during their recent home games against Manchester United and Chelsea.
Not seen that many bald patches since the Rolling Stones played at Hyde Park.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
