FRENCH FA president Noel Le Graet has been forced to apologise for his “disrespectful” and “clumsy” comments about Zinedine Zidane.
Le Graet hit out at the former Real Madrid manager when he was quizzed about his future.
Zidane had been amongst the favourites to replace Didier Deschamps as France boss following their World Cup final defeat to Argentina.
But Deschamps has extended his stay as manager by signing a new contract until 2026.
And Le Graet took a swipe at Zidane by claiming that he was never in contention for the job.
Speaking to RMC Sport, he said: “Zinedine Zidane to Brazil? I don’t give a toss.
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“He can go wherever he wants, to a club or to a national team. I don’t really care.
“Did he try to ring me? Definitely not. I wouldn’t have even picked up the phone for him.”
His comments caused uproar and led to Real Madrid releasing a statement in defence of their former player and manager.
Kylian Mbappe also came out supporting Zizou on Twitter.
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He said: “Zidane is France, we don’t disrespect the legend like that… 🤦🏽♂️.”
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But Le Graet has now apologised for what he describes as comments that “have created a misunderstanding”.
“I want to give my apologies for those comments that absolutely don’t reflect my thoughts, nor my consideration for the player that he was and the manager he has become.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
