Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Nioclas Anelka: I will name 2010 World Cup mole behind France insult claim

Nicolas Anelka has told Onze Mondial that he will reveal the identity of the dressing room mole whose revelations led to him being sent home from the 2010 World Cup.

A front-page report in L'Equipe that summer said Anelka had allegedly aimed a crude insult at the then national team coach Raymond Domenech at half-time of France's group stage game against Mexico.

The revelation -- which led to the squad going on strike -- was purportedly leaked by a person within the France setup.

Former Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester City striker Anelka said: "I know the guilty one -- I'll reveal it."

He denied he had insulted Domenech in the way L'Equipe had alleged, adding: "If I had said it, I would have owned up. I would have repeated it even.

"I don't need to hide. I stand by everything I say and everything I do."

The incident and subsequent strike, which saw the players refuse to get off the bus for a training session after Anelka had left, meant he never played for his country again.

"I knew the players were going to be behind me. They knew I was right, quite simply," the forward, who scored 14 times in 69 senior appearances for his country, said.

"Not regarding the insult -- which is false by the way -- but the act itself. I wanted to change things so that the coach understood there were things to change.

"But I didn't expect L'Equipe would invent a phrase and publish it the following day."

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