Stamford Bridge man reacts in expected manner after hefty suspension.
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Nicolas Anelka says he is “laughing” after being banned for 18 games by the French Football Federation (FFF) over his conduct at this summer’s World Cup.
The 31-year-old Chelsea striker was sent home from South Africa after a row with coach Raymond Domenech.
“This whole thing is a nonsense, to turn the page because [new coach] Laurent Blanc needs to be able to work in peace,” Anelka told France Soir.
“These people are clowns. I’m dying with laughter,” he added.
Anelka said the suspension “has no relevance whatsoever” because as far as he is concerned, his international career finished when he was thrown out of training on 19 June.“The whole commission thing is a charade not to lose face,” he added. (BBC Sport)
It was pretty obvious Nicolas Anelka would react in this manner. He had pretty much called time on his international career anyway, but in many ways he is one of the chief culprits at the head of the whole World Cup debacle, after all the whole thing really kicked off the moment he called Raymond Domenech the son of a whore, an insult that was clearly not going to go down well with the since replaced French boss.
All of this is of course very good news for Chelsea who will now not have to worry about any fitness issues relating to Anelka’s having to travel to international matches. Every cloud has a silver lining.
The 31 year old does appear to have courted controversy wherever he has gone although his time at the west London club has thankfully been incident free and without him having to take part in French national team games he may well have extended his club career by a season or so.
For the record Anelka has accrued 69 caps and scored 14 goals.