France coach Raymond Domenech on Monday dismissed claims that he had received a bonus of 862,000 euros for successfully guiding the side to next year’s World Cup finals.
The combative 57-year-old – whose team reached the finals in controversial circumstances last Wednesday as Thierry Henry’s double handball set up the decisive goal in the 2-1 aggregate victory over the Republic of Ireland – told France Bleu that France Football’s claims over his bonus were way over the mark.
“The figure they cite is totally astounding,” said Domenech, who has never won over the French fans despite taking the team to the 2006 World Cup final.
“If it really was that, I would be as happy as anything.
“But it is way over the mark. I won’t even try and contradict the information because it is their usual editorial line. It is a lie. Money is not my motivation.
“If I was coach of a club, I would be earning 10-times the amount I am at the moment.
“It is not a question of money. It was Roger Lemerre (France coach from 1998-2002) who said that ‘We have one function, one real role, to be coach of France, that is enough’. I would do it for free, it is an honour to have such a post.”
Domenech said that football treated its best paid people with less respect than other sports.
“In tennis, one hears of this and that tournament with astonishing prizemoney. In motorsport the wages are astronomical. In golf, the more money one wins the more one is respected. In football it is the reverse.
“One is given the impression that those who make money in football are cheating.
“It is astonishing.”
