Real Madrid stood up for Zidane and came down hard on the president of the French federation. We are waiting for an apology!

The whole of French football is on its feet on Monday morning. It was due to the rather harsh words of the association’s president Noel Le Graet, who rubbed it in Zinedine Zidane’s face. The legend of France has been defended by Kylian Mbappé and now by Real Madrid.

It was Zinedine Zidane who was waiting for an offer to become the coach of France. According to the French media, Didier Deschamps was to quit after the World Cup in Qatar and the legendary Zizou was to take over the Tres Bleus.

Because of this, he turned down offers from PSG and Manchester United in the summer. But the president of the French federation, Noel Le Graet, decided to extend Deschamps’ contract, which is of course perfectly fine and his right. However, words to Zidane were already pretty useless.

Indeed, when asked by reporters about Zidane, Le Graet responded more as if he were a nagging enemy than one of the country’s greatest, if not the greatest, sporting icon.

“That Zidane will coach Brazil? I don’t care, let him go wherever he wants. He can coach whoever he wants, the national team, the club…,” Le Graet said in an interview with RMC Sport. He continued in a sharp tone.

“If Zidane tried to contact me? No, I wouldn’t have answered his phone anyway,” Le Graet surprised. “Why, to tell him to look for another club? Let him sign up for a special programme that will find him a club or a national team, ” the French federation president added.

And those words provoked a wave of reactions. Even Kylian Mbappé, the biggest star of the current national team, stood up for his idol. “Zidane is France, this is not how a legend should be disrespected,” Mbappé said on his Twitter account.

Le Graet’s words did not go unnoticed at Real Madrid, where Zinedine Zidane is highly regarded as one of the club’s biggest icons.

“Real Madrid C.F. regrets the unfortunate remarks made by the president of the French Football Federation, Nôel Le Graët, about Zinedine Zidane, one of the greatest legends of world sport,” Real wrote in an official statement.

“These words indicate a lack of respect for one of the figures most admired by football fans around the world and our club expects an immediate correction. Zinedine Zidane, a world champion and European champion defending his country’s jersey among many other titles, represents the values of the sport and has demonstrated this throughout his professional career as a player and as a coach,” the club continued.

“The statements made by the president of the French Football Federation are inappropriate for someone who represents this national team and disqualify themselves, as are those also made about our captain Karim Benzema, current Ballon d’Or winner, champion of the Nations League with France in 2021 and winner of 5 Champions Leagues, among many other titles,” Real Madrid concluded the statement.

Source: Twitter, RMC, Real Madrid