PARIS, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Olympique Marseille promised their
fans reinforcements would come after starting the defence of
their Ligue 1 title with a shock 2-1 home defeat by promoted
Caen.

Marseille, who secured their first Ligue 1 crown in 18 years
last May, worried their supporters with a dismal display in
their opening match in the campaign last weekend.

PARIS (Reuters) – Girondins Bordeaux emulated fellow heavyweights Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyon with a poor start to their Ligue 1 campaign, slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Montpellier on Sunday.

Missing several key players through injury or suspension, Bordeaux, who lost their Ligue 1 crown to Marseille last May, looked sluggish and hardly created a chance.

PARIS, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Girondins Bordeaux emulated fellow
heavyweights Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyon with a poor
start to their Ligue 1 campaign, slumping to a 1-0 defeat at
Montpellier on Sunday.

Missing several key players through injury or suspension,
Bordeaux, who lost their Ligue 1 crown to Marseille last May,
looked sluggish and hardly created a chance.

PARIS (Reuters) – Olympique Marseille made an embarrassing start to the defence of their Ligue 1 title with a shock 2-1 home defeat by promoted Caen on Saturday.

A header by midfielder Youssef El-Arabi five minutes from time silenced the Velodrome stadium and gave the visitors from Normandy a stunning victory.

PARIS, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Olympique Marseille made an
embarrassing start to the defence of their Ligue 1 title with a
2-1 home defeat by promoted Caen on Saturday.

A header by midfielder Youssef El-Arabi five minutes from
time silenced the Velodrome stadium and gave the visitors from
Normandy a stunning victory.

PARIS (Reuters) – The failure of an entire system led to France’s World Cup debacle, said winger Florent Malouda who blamed a poor environment and the coach’s refusal to listen to his players for the team’s fiasco in South Africa.

Unlike at their clubs, the players did not find ideal conditions when playing for France, Malouda told weekly L’Equipe Magazine in a interview released on Saturday.

PARIS (Reuters) – Laurent Blanc was officially appointed France coach on Friday with the mission to restore the team’s pride after their disastrous World Cup performance.

The 44-year-old, a prominent member of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad, replaces Raymond Domenech, whose contract ended with France’s group stage exit from the 2010 finals.

PARIS (Reuters) – The French government on Wednesday denied any political interference in soccer affairs but kept debating the national team’s World Cup debacle amid a suspension threat by FIFA.

World governing body president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday FIFA could suspend the French Football Federation (FFF) if France’s politicians kept meddling in soccer.

PARIS (Reuters) – The national soul-searching and high-level meetings looks set to continue in France after the team’s World Cup fiasco despite FIFA warning French politicians to beware of meddling in the running of soccer.

Outgoing coach Raymond Domenech and French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes, who has also announced his resignation, will both appear at a parliamentary commission on Wednesday, a National Assembly spokesman said on Tuesday.

PARIS (Reuters) – French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes said on Monday he was resigning after France’s World Cup fiasco.

France left the World Cup with one point and one goal from the group stage after the team created a scandal by boycotting a training session in support of striker Nicolas Anelka, who was sent home for insulting coach Raymond Domenech.