Anelka Unfazed By Lengthy Ban

Wednesday, 18th August 2010 at 17:42pm

The French Football Federation has banned Chelsea and France striker Nicolas Anelka from representing the French national football team for 18 matches after a disciplinary hearing into the events which took place at the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

Although not present, Anelka was one of five players summoned to the hearing on Tuesday and bans were also handed out to Patrice Evra, Franck Ribery and Jeremy Toulan. Eric Abidal was also present but escaped further punishment.

Evra will miss the next five matches, Ribery the next three and Toulan just one additional match.

Rather than being angry at the sentence handed out to him, Anelka has branded the decision as "nonsense", believing his international career to be over the moment he was expelled from the squad on June 19.

"These people are clowns. I'm dying with laughter," he added.

Anelka was thrown out of the French squad after verbally abusing then coach Raymond Domenech during France's loss to Mexico in their second match of Group A.

As a result of his expulsion, the squad refused to train ahead of their final match in which they suffered a 2-1 defeat to the host nation to leave Les Blues bottom of their group with just a single point.

Captain Evra and vice captain Ribery were seen to be the instigators of the action taken by the players and Evra, the Manchester United left back, had to be separated from a member of Domenech's coaching staff as tempers flared.

Abidal was summoned to Paris as he refused to play in the final group match.

New French national coach Laurent Blanc suspended all 23 players who travelled to South Africa for his first match in charge, last week's friendly against Norway which France lost 2-1 despite going a goal up.

Blanc's second game comes next month when Les Bleus take on Belarus in Paris on September 3 in the first round of Euro 2012 qualifying matches.

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