France players agree to forego World Cup bonuses

France’s World Cup squad have finally agreed to forego bonuses linked to their image rights from the catastrophic campaign in South Africa, French Football Federation (FFF) interim president Fernand Duchaussoy said on Tuesday.

“Numerous cases of incorrect and erroneous information were published concerning the World Cup bonuses,” said Duchaussoy.

“Yesterday evening I decided to meet the players in London to put an end to all the misunderstanding.

“The players confirm the commitment taken during the World Cup to forego their bonuses of whatever nature that are linked to he period of preparation matches as well as the final phase of the competition in South Africa.

“The players back the step taken by the French football federation consisting of allocating these bonuses, amounting to a global sum of three million euros, towards the financing of amateur football activities.”

Duchaussoy said that he was “quite confident” that former France coach Raymond Domenech would also forego his bonuses from the tournament.

The controversy reignited last week when L’Equipe newspaper reported that the players wanted keep their bonuses despite France captain Patrice Evra saying they would give them up after a World Cup marked by a players strike and an early exit.

“This closes the episode,” added Duchaussoy ahead of France’s friendly against England here on Wednesday.