France's racism row raises questions for the future
When , the success wasn't discussed solely in footballing terms, as many will recall. Instead, countless voices - whether in the media or outside - commended a multicultural team for having helped to harmonise a nation sometimes torn by racial differences.
The Times, for example, credited the success with having "consolidated a new national identity" amongst the French.
But 12 years later, this celebration of France's multicultural ways was apparently no longer so welcome - .
The claims that the French Football Federation's leading coaches proposed in November 2010 to secretly limit the intake of black and north African players to 30% at certain regional youth training centres, including the renowned Clairefontaine facility, were swiftly dismissed when they first emerged.
Born in Wimbledon, my enthusiasm for the global game was already sizeable before the tragic demise of the boys from SW19. Having covered football in over 50 countries, I've been working in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's African sports section since the early noughties, recently spending three years in Africa to report on the run-up to the continent's first World Cup.
