Kylian Mbappe blasts French Football president for mocking Zinedine Zidane

Kylian Mbappe, the finalist of the FIFA World Cup 2022, slammed the French Football Federation’s (FFF) president Noel Le Graet for disrespecting the former French footballer Zinedine Zidane. For the unversed, on January 7, Saturday, the FFF announced the extension of the head coach Didier Deschamps’ contract, ignoring the former midfielder’s offer to serve as the coach. 

Le Graet said that he would not even consider picking up the call from Zidane, if received and said that he is not bothered about the former footballer. The president further said that he does not care about Zidane’s future and revealed that the former midfielder can go wherever he wants to go. 

“I don’t give a damn, he can go wherever he wants. I know very well that Zidane was always on the radar. He had a lot of supporters, some were waiting for Deschamps’s departure… But who can make serious reproaches to Deschamps? Nobody,” Le Graet was quoted as saying to RMC. 

Zidane is France: Kylian Mbappe

However, the claims from the president caused personal anguish to Mbappe, who said that it was not fair for Le Graet to disrespect a former star who is from the same country as well. Amelie Oudea-Castera, the Minister for Sports, in France, said that the president crossed the line when commenting on Zidane. 

“He (Zidane) does what he wants, it’s none of my business. I’ve never met him, we’ve never considered parting with Didier. He can go where he wants, to a club… If Zidane tried to contact me? Certainly not, I wouldn’t even pick up the phone,” the FFF president was quoted as saying further. 

“Zidane is France, we don’t disrespect the legend like that,” Mbappe wrote on Twitter. “Yet more out-of-touch comments and on top of that a shameful lack of respect, which hurts us all, towards a legend of football and sport,” wrote Amelie in support of Zidane on her account. 

While one has to agree that it was under Deschamps’ guidance that the Les Bleus managed to reach the summit clash of the FIFA World Cup consecutively, one must also admit that Zidane is one of the greats of the country and disrespecting him would only affect France’s future.