False calm in the France camp: a sick leave and a row that nearly turned into a brawl
Sharp disputes at the start of Zidane's tenure
Zinedine Zidane has made a positive start at the helm of France, but the calm on the surface masks a very different reality behind the scenes. Press reports have laid bare a series of organisational crises and internal disputes, some escalating into verbal clashes between members of the administrative staff. One official has even been granted sick leave after his row with a colleague boiled over.
French website "Foot Mercato", citing "L'Equipe", report that Zidane's opening months have been marked by internal turmoil despite the results on the pitch: three wins and a draw from his first four matches.
France are gearing up for the new international break, with the players arriving at Clairefontaine on Monday to prepare for Italy on Thursday evening and then Belgium. Zidane hopes to use the camp to keep developing the side and drilling in his ideas, not least with a handful of new faces, most notably Pablo Pagis and Saël Kumbedi.
Yet "L'Equipe" paint a very different picture away from the pitch. The problems, they say, go beyond results or tactics and stretch into how certain organisational files and staff affairs are being run within the national team.
September's international break served up a string of embarrassing organisational blunders. The most glaring was the sock incident against Belgium, which delayed kick-off and landed the French Football Federation with a 10,000-euro fine for using a strap of a colour that broke the rules.
More confusion followed. Kylian Mbappé was left holding the Turkish flag on his own after the two teams walked out, Michael Olise had to clear a warm-up plate left on the pitch after both anthems in the match against Italy, and Zidane could not even hear the start of the French anthem in Izmit.
The crises ran deeper than the mistakes caught on camera. L'Equipe revealed a sharp disagreement between two of the equipment officials that erupted into a furious verbal clash, driving one of them to take sick leave.
At the heart of it are Bastien Giray, the first team's equipment official promoted after working with the France Under-21s, and Kamel Lahlouh, whose strong relationship with Fabien Barthez, the newspaper notes, helped smooth his path into an administrative role.
The report claims a heated verbal clash broke out between the pair at their first meeting. Tensions ran so high that Giray felt his colleague was about to physically assault him, prompting him to report the incident to officials.
No decisive action followed to defuse the crisis, according to the newspaper. That left Giray frustrated, convinced his superiors were ducking a clear stance for fear of upsetting some of those close to Zidane. He later obtained sick leave.
Covering his absence during the current November camp is Julien Mimetot, the former technical director of the France Under-21s.
Restructuring within the French Federation
Administrative upheaval has spread to other files within the French Football Federation. The governing body has put out an internal advert for an assistant to team director Laurent Georges, while preparing to reorganise the security role in the wake of accusations against Mohamed Sanhaji.
All of this raises real questions over how the France national team is run and organised. The squad boasts an elite group of the game's biggest stars, yet the challenges it faces have little to do with what happens on the green rectangle.
Caught between a promising start and the turmoil slowly leaking out behind the scenes, Zidane faces a job bigger than simply building a competitive side. He will also have to create a stable environment, free from the disputes that threaten to splinter focus inside the French camp.
