PARIS - French secretary of state for sport, Rama Yade, yesterday criticised the choice of hotel for the French squad at the World Cup finals as overly luxurious and called for "decency" at a time of general belt-tightening.
PARIS - French secretary of state for sport, Rama Yade, yesterday criticised the choice of hotel for the French squad at the World Cup finals as overly luxurious and called for "decency" at a time of general belt-tightening.
"I would not have chosen this hotel. Spain, for example, has chosen a university campus," noted Yade in an interview on Radio J.
"If France go a long way (in the tournament) the choice of a site offering the best training conditions will appear judicious.
"But if results do not come up to expectations then those in charge will have some explaining to do," Yade commented.
"I hope that the French team wow us by their results rather than the swankiness of their hotels. I have called on them to show some decency in times of crisis."
The French, champions in 1998 but they struggled to qualify for the event in South Africa, will stay at the five-star Pezula Resort in Knysna on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
French football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes responded: "What do you want me to say? If the secretary of state says something then she says something. I am not here to make comments on an hotel I do not even know - that is not my role." - Sapa-AFP
Swanky Les Blues get scolding
PARIS - French secretary of state for sport, Rama Yade, yesterday criticised the choice of hotel for the French squad at the World Cup finals as overly luxurious and called for "decency" at a time of general belt-tightening.
PARIS - French secretary of state for sport, Rama Yade, yesterday criticised the choice of hotel for the French squad at the World Cup finals as overly luxurious and called for "decency" at a time of general belt-tightening.
"I would not have chosen this hotel. Spain, for example, has chosen a university campus," noted Yade in an interview on Radio J.
"If France go a long way (in the tournament) the choice of a site offering the best training conditions will appear judicious.
"But if results do not come up to expectations then those in charge will have some explaining to do," Yade commented.
"I hope that the French team wow us by their results rather than the swankiness of their hotels. I have called on them to show some decency in times of crisis."
The French, champions in 1998 but they struggled to qualify for the event in South Africa, will stay at the five-star Pezula Resort in Knysna on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
French football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes responded: "What do you want me to say? If the secretary of state says something then she says something. I am not here to make comments on an hotel I do not even know - that is not my role." - Sapa-AFP
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