Marc Rétali’s spell in the new France set-up was over almost as soon as it appeared to begin. The Alsace-based podiatrist says he was removed from the staff on 15 August, two days after learning through media reports that he had been appointed.
Rétali had been listed among the new members of the French national team’s backroom team in August, but his name disappeared from the group at the start of the following week. The French Football Federation considered that he had failed to observe a duty of discretion after speaking to the press on 13 August.
Quick facts
- Marc Rétali learned of his France staff appointment on 13 August through press reports.
- He gave an interview later that day before receiving his contract.
- The contract was sent to him by email on the evening of 14 August.
- His name was permanently withdrawn from the staff list on 15 August.
- Rétali says the federation’s response was disproportionate and has harmed his reputation.
The 13 August interview became the central issue in his removal. Rétali said the federation treated his comments as a breach of contractual obligations, but he insists he had not signed — or even read — a contract when journalists approached him.
“When the reporters contacted me, my contract had not yet been signed,” he said. “I see it as a clear injustice. There had been warnings to be careful, but I did not understand them as absolute instructions.”
He added that he would not knowingly have ignored a clear ban on media contact. “I am not stupid. If I had been told not to speak to the press under any circumstances, I would not have done it.”
A sanction Rétali believes went too far
Rétali said he only received the document on 14 August, the day after the interview had already been published. It was while reading that contract that he says he first saw the strict confidentiality provision relating to media appearances.
“Had I known beforehand, things would have been different,” he said. He was told on 15 August that the decision to remove him from the staff was final.
The 20-year Sochaux veteran believes a warning or formal reprimand would have been more appropriate than complete exclusion. “Even if I had made a mistake over an instruction I had not understood, that deserved a yellow card, not being thrown out altogether,” he said, adding that attempts to make his case did not succeed.
He also questioned the manner in which his proposed role became public before he had received his contract. Rétali believes the attention surrounding the France team, and references to Zinédine Zidane, amplified a routine interview beyond what those involved had expected.
“Anything connected to France and Zinédine Zidane creates a major echo,” he said. “It overwhelmed the people in place. There was nothing sensitive or improper in what I said.”
Looking beyond the France episode
Rétali has worked in football for two decades with Sochaux and has also been involved with leading cycling teams, including Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ and Decathlon-CMA CGM. He is now seeking new projects after what he called a damaging episode for both his professional image and his family.
“Yes, I was made into an example,” he said. For a specialist who had barely entered the France staff picture, the exit came with unusual speed — and, in his view, without a fair chance to explain himself.
