French rebels face disciplinary case

PARIS (AP):

The French Football Federation opened a disciplinary case against five players who went on strike at the World Cup in South Africa.

Nicolas Anelka, Franck Ribery, Eric Abidal, Jeremy Toulalan and captain Patrice Evra will appear before the disciplinary commission of the French federation later this month.

The federal council of the federation asked its disciplinary commission to give a ruling on the case after reviewing a report from a commission of inquiry set up last month.

The commission is expected to gather within 15 days.

"This is a balanced decision," Laurent Davenas, a member of the three-man inquiry commission, told The Associated Press.

"It would have been impossible to ask the disciplinary commission to hear all 23 players," he said. "We tried to target some of them. We have the feeling that some players were kingpins."

French federation president Fernand Duchaussoy said before the meeting of the federal council that such a move did not necessarily mean sanctions would be taken.

Players investigated

Three investigators have interviewed 18 of the 23 World Cup players, staff members and federation officials who were in South Africa when the players decided to boycott a training session.

The strike was intended to protest Anelka's exclusion from the squad following an expletive-filled tirade directed at then-coach Raymond Domenech during a 2-0 loss to Mexico.

According to Patrick Braouezec, a deputy in the French national assembly who was a member of the inquiry commission, none of the players who were questioned confirmed Anelka used the offensive and crude words printed by sports daily L'Equipe after the altercation.

Braouezec told RTL radio yesterday that the players accepted collective responsibility in the case.