France coach Blanc cleared in race row
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France coach Laurent Blanc was on Tuesday cleared of any wrongdoing by French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno in the row over talks concerning the introduction of quotas for dual nationality players.
Jouanno said there was no evidence that the 2001 law against discrimination had been broken.
"There is nothing to suggest that Laurent Blanc in any way gave his support to disciminatory actions," Jouanno said. "The means of limiting dual-nationals was in effect debated. The subject was brought up in an awkard and uncalled for manner. It was alluded to in a manner which bordered on racist but there was no project to establish quotas."
Blanc appeared before a joint hearing of the French Football Federation (FFF) and the Sports Ministry on Monday. The two-pronged inquiry was launched after the Mediapart website released a transcript of a meeting last November in which Blanc and French officials allegedly discussed introducing quotas on the number of dual-nationality players at youth training centers.
