France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan has stated that the team's strike at the World Cup was a unanimous decision.
French midfielder feels team should take responsibility
France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan has stated that the team's strike at the World Cup was a unanimous decision and should be punished as a collective.
The French team caused huge disruption ahead of their final group game of the tournament, where they lost to South Africa, following the decision to send Nicolas Anelka home following an argument with manager Raymond Domenech.
The Les Bleus players boycotted a training session and refused to leave the team bus, in a protest that was reportedly led by captain Patrice Evra.
Former international Lilian Thuram said that Evra should never play again for the national team following the strike, however Toulalan admitted that he was "not proud" of the collective strike, but the whole team should be held responsible.
"I'm not proud of what I did but I accept responsibility," Toulalan told
Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
"There were no ringleaders and no slaves, no good guys and no bad guys. We were all involved and we are all responsible because nobody said a word (against the boycott). Whoever says otherwise is a liar."
"We should have talked to each other on the pitch and shown during the games the solidarity which was ours in support of Anelka.
"I'm going through a nightmare. I'm still wondering how we managed to do such things. It's a stain on my career and it will be very difficult to wipe it off."
