adminBORDEAUX. — Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol on Tuesday insisted that comments he made about African soccer players had been misinterpreted as leading anti-racism campaigners called for action to be taken against him.
Sagnol, the former Monaco, Bayern Munich and France full-back who took over as coach of Bordeaux in the summer, indicated that African players lacked “intelligence” and “discipline” in an interview with the Bordeaux newspaper Sud-Ouest as he declared that the scheduling of the African Cup of Nations puts him off signing players from the continent.
A statement released by his club said that “Willy Sagnol is angry and incredulous at the erroneous and shortened interpretation of his comments” while Bordeaux themselves said they were “astonished and indignant.”
However, speaking in an interview with readers that was recorded on video, when asked how he would deal with losing players to Cup of Nations duty early in the new year, Sagnol said: “We deal with it one game at a time, but yes it’s a problem.
“As long as I remain coach of Bordeaux there will be far fewer African players coming to Girondins de Bordeaux, because I don’t fancy seeing 12 players clearing off for two months every two years.” — AFP.
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