Blanc poised to go after ‘racism’ row

Nicolas Sarkozy is said to be trying to stop Laurent Blanc from resigning over comments on quotas for black and Arab players The future of French football coach Laurent Blanc, at the centre of a row over quotas of non-white players in the national squad, is hanging in the balance after he was reported to be on the verge of resigning. The former Manchester United and Marseille defender was said to be ready to step down as the manager of Les Bleus after he was secretly taped discussing proposals to reduce the number of black and Arab players in the side. Ouest-France , France’s biggest-selling daily newspaper, claimed Blanc planned to resign at a press conference on Mondaydespite the French football federation pleading for him to stay. It quoted an anonymous government source saying that France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was ready to call the 45-year-old and ask him to reconsider the decision. A spokesman for Blanc denied the reports and said he would not be quitting. The ministry of sport and the football federation also rejected the claims. “I had him on the telephone and we spoke of him coming to Paris to be interviewed and of what happens after the inquiry, but at no stage was there any question of that [resignation],” Philippe Tournon, spokesman for the French national team, told the news agency AFP. Separate inquiries have been launched into the claims that emerged a week ago on the investigative website Mediapart . A federation official has been suspended and Blanc has been given until Monday morning to appear before the two inquiries to respond to the allegations. In 1998, when France won the World Cup, the country’s national squad was a potent symbol of the nation’s ethnic makeup and was nicknamed the “black-blanc-beur” (black-white-Arab) team. On the secret tape made of the meeting last November, however, federation officials, including Blanc, are heard discussing a plan to cap the number of 12- and 13-year-old black and Arab hopefuls at sports academies, which feed into the national team, to 30%. Blanc initially denied any knowledge of the quota proposal. When Mediapart published a transcript of the tape, he issued a qualified apology. “I admit some remarks made during a work meeting, taken out of their context, may be misinterpreted. As far as I am concerned, I apologise if I have hurt some feelings. But I, who am against any form of discrimination, do not accept being accused of racism or xenophobia,” he said in a statement. He added that the only point of the meeting was to “discuss the future of French football and deal with the delicate problem of players with dual nationality”. The affair has sparked controversy internationally. France Race issues France Europe Kim Willsher Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk

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