By CALEB SONNELAND
French national team manager Laurent Blanc has been cleared of racism charges by the French Football Federation.
Claims that Blanc had backed a project to reduce the number of ethnic minority players in the national set-up put the Frenchman under the spotlight. Said project would have restricted the amount of French players of African origin entering the national team set-up at the age of 12.
Blanc was confirmed to be at meetings where the project was suggested and logistics discussed; however, the FFF has absolved the manager saying that he was not an "organizer or pilot" and offered no opinions on the issue.
Here are some other stories from around the soccer world:
WEST BROM TO VISIT PORTLAND AND SAN JOSE
English Premier League side West Brom is set to visit San Jose's Buck Shaw Stadium and Portland's Jeld-Wen Field this summer in club friendlies.
First, the Baggies will play the Chris Wondolowski and the Earthquakes on July 12th in San Jose this summer. Nicky Shorey will briefly reunite with Bobby Convey after the two both enjoyed stints at English side Reading FC.
Last summer, fellow English Premier League team Tottenham FC visited Buck Shaw Stadium and drew a record crowd of 10,712 for a 1-1 draw.
West Brom and manager Roy Hodgson will then travel up the coast to Portland. July 20th is the date set for the English side to play in the Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field, and given Portland's current run of home form, it should be well up for giving West Brom a match.
West Brom is currently 13th in the Premier League and are mathematically ensured at least another season of top flight soccer.
MEXES AND TAIWO SET FOR AC MILAN
Roma and Marseille defenders Philippe Mexes and Taye Taiwo are set for a switch to AC Milan after reports emerged that the Serie A giants have agreed deals for both players, according to manager Massimiliano Allegri.
Mexes, as a center back, and Taiwo, as a left back, will look to bolster the defense that has allowed 12 fewer goals than any other team in Serie A.
Milan is currently leading the league by six points with two matches to be played, one of which is against fourth-placed side Udinese.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has stated that he will remain at AC Milan, and with the club reportedly interested in bringing Real Madrid misfit, Kaka, back to his old club, the Italian side could be a force to be reckoned with.
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What do you think of Blanc's alleged participation in racism claims? How will Portland and San Jose fare against West Brom? What do the transfers of Mexes and Taiwo mean for AC Milan? Are they up to the grade of the league leaders?
Share your thoughts below.
France wouldn’t have won the World Cup without immigrants
Like Hell! I wouldn’t want my beloved France to full of racists at the natioal level, sickens me! Just look at Italy and Spain bunch of whiny undesirables who defecate the the beauty of Earth with their ignorant presence.
Maybe Blanc should hire Luis Aragones as an assistant
A big problem with this incident as it was reported in many many outlets is that it was apparently a nuanced meeting/discussion, which means only writers that bothered to go into great depth were able to portray what happened…which in turn means almost no one bothered to do that.
Yeah…I thought there would be some sort of mention of their little spat too.
Poor reporting on the story. There was discussions about a quota system, but at the end of the meeting Blanc said “I don’t care if the team is completely full of African-born players so long as they identify themselves as being French.” I think that shows that race was not his concern at all. Oh, and I’m paraphrasing based on Andy Brassel and others on the BBC’s Five Live World Football Phone-In show.
Nothing about Rodgers’ comments about Donovan? This LA-NY rivalry could get really good!!!