The French government suspended anti-doping tests on the national team ahead of the 1998 World Cup, the tournament France both hosted and won, the country’s then-Sports Minister has revealed in a documentary about Zinédine Zidane, that year’s champion and recently appointed national team coach.
“It was a setback,” admitted Marie-George Buffet, in comments broadcast Monday by French television channel BFM TV, acknowledging that ministerial instructions had been issued to exempt the French team from surprise doping controls in the lead-up to the tournament.
The revelation comes in the latest documentary about Zidane, winner of the 1998 Ballon d’Or, the year France claimed its first World Cup title, defeating five-time champions and record 23-time participants Brazil 3-0 in the final at Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris.
In 1997, during a training camp in Tignes, the French Football Federation, coach Aimé Jacquet, and the players themselves criticized unannounced doping controls, arguing they disrupted the team’s preparation.
Read more: Zinédine Zidane returns to football as new France national coach (with video)
“I received instructions not to bother the French national team anymore ahead of the World Cup. In other words, no more surprise tests,” said Alain Garnier, a doctor sent by the Ministry of Sport to Tignes to conduct the controls, all of which had consistently returned negative results.
Asked about Garnier’s remarks in the documentary, Buffet did not deny the possibility that she had conveyed that instruction, though she acknowledged not remembering the exact words used.
“If he says that, then yes, it must be true. We didn’t say exactly that, but it amounts to the same thing. We must have received instructions from ministerial offices. It was a serious setback in the fight against doping. After the 1998 World Cup, we resumed the fight,” recalled the former minister, who was involved a year later in drafting France’s first anti-doping legislation.
France did not reclaim the World Cup title until 2018, in Russia, nearly two decades after their Euro 2000 triumph, which featured several 1998 champions including Fabien Barthez, Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Didier Deschamps, who stepped down as Les Bleus coach in July after 14 years in charge, Robert Pirès, whose father is Portuguese, Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet.
Read more: World Cup: England defeats France 6-4 to secure 3rd place (with video)
In 2013, testifying before a Senate committee, Buffet denied under oath having ordered the suspension of unannounced controls, while acknowledging she had faced pressure of all kinds during that period.
