Raymond Domenech is a character. We know it. But sometimes the character goes beyond the limits. Guest of the show Greg's team This Wednesday, the former coach was asked about the future World Cup at 48 teams. And his answer threw a cold. “I do not understand that teams like Uzbekistan and Jordan are present”,
He said, before feeling obliged to specify, faced with general astonishment: “it is not racist”.
A question of “level” which does not convince
If the set has chosen to laugh about it, the exit has what to shock. Domenech may defend himself by speaking of a simple “Level question”, fearing rivers scores, its argument sounds false. It seems to forget the very essence of a World Cup: a planetary party, a brewing of cultures and footballs, where the fervor of a “small” nation qualified for the first time is worth all the tactical demonstrations. If Jordan is there, it is because it deserved it on the ground. Point.
This elitist vision and centered on Europe betrays a form of blindness. For him, which is different, which leaves the usual framework of the great nations, necessarily seems lower. A thought that would have made a certain Montaigne jump, which already reminded us of centuries ago that “Everyone calls barbarism which is not their use”.
2010 Mondial: Raymond Domenech, already angry with the universal values of football, refused to greet his South African counterpart. Fifteen years later, contempt has just changed target.
Domenech, a regular outings
This skid is unfortunately not a surprise. He is part of the long list of the feats of arms of a man who sometimes seems to have trouble grasping the codes of the world around him. We remember his refusal to shake hands with his South African counterpart, Carlos Alberto Parreira, after the pathetic elimination of the Blues at the 2010 World Cup. A gesture which, already at the time, had shown its inability to understand that football is also, and above all, a matter of respect.
Again, Raymond Domenech missed a great opportunity to be silent. We congratulated ourselves not to see him on a sidelines, we would almost come to wish that he is also moving away from the TV sets. Because his analyzes, instead of lighting the debate, often only rekindle controversies that football really doesn't need.
