France refuse to train in support of Anelka

Less than 24 hours after the Chelsea forward was excluded by the French Football Federation for refusing to apologise for his verbal attack on Domenech, the rest of the squad reacted to his exclusion.

Just a few minutes after taking the field for a training session at their Knysna base in South Africa captain Patrice Evra and fitness coach Robert Duverne became involved in an argument. Domenech stepped in and Duverne stormed away as the players walked off and boarded the team bus.

The coach returned moments later to read a statement from the squad.

"All players without exception want to declare their opposition to FFF decision to exclude Nicolas Anelka," it said.

The statement added the players were angry the Anelka-Domenech row had become public and criticised the FFF, "which at no time tried to protect the squad".

However, the players vowed "to do everything individually and collectively so that France regains its honour (against South Africa) on Tuesday".

The walkout was prompted by events on Saturday when Anelka was dismissed from the squad after he refused to say sorry for his outburst at Domenech.

Anelka's foul-mouthed tirade came after the coach criticised him for straying out of position during the goalless first half of their 2-0 Group A defeat by Mexico on Thursday.

The 31-year-old was subsequently substituted before the start of the second half.

On Saturday night Manchester United defender Evra accused a "traitor" within the camp of trying to destabilise the squad after the details of Anelka's row were leaked to the press.

But the players, already under pressure as a draw between Uruguay and Mexico tomorrow would confirm France's elimination from the tournament irrespective of their result against hosts South Africa, felt the need to make a more public stand.

The players said in their statement that they are "aware of our responsibilities as those who wear the colours of our country but also those that we have towards our fans and countless children who see Les Bleus as role models.

"For our part, we have not forgotten our duties. We will do everything individually and also in a collective spirit to bring honour to France with a positive performance on Tuesday night."

Domenech had stressed that had Anelka apologised he would have allowed him to stay with the squad. In the wake of events yesterday France team director Jean-Louis Valentin said he would be resigning.

There had been reports Duverne was the 'mole' who leaked news of the Anelka-Domenech spat to the media but he denied those claims last night.