Gold Cup 2017: The curious case of Florent Malouda
French Guiana had hoped to field former Chelsea star Florent Malouda at this month’s Gold Cup, but the winger has since been barred.
The Gold Cup has typically been a tournament where national team coaches audition young talent. In other cases, it’s been a competition where veteran players looking for one last shot at glory give it their all. While much of the buzz at this Gold Cup surrounds 16-year-old Canadian winger Alphonso Davies, one the oldest players at this tournament is currently the one grabbing the headlines. That player is former Champions League winner and France star Florent Malouda.
The 37-year-old, famous for his six seasons at Chelsea, was attempting to make one last go of it this month at the Gold Cup. Currently playing with the Indian club Delhi Dynamos FC, the attacking midfielder was called up by his native French Guiana. Here lies the problem. Malouda already amassed 80 caps for France, scoring nine goals in the process, and was a member of the team that lost to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final on penalties. He helped Chelsea win the Champions League in 2012.
The tiny French territory, which is not a member of FIFA, was ready to make a splash against Canada Friday night at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey when they found out days before the game that Malouda was ineligible for the Gold Cup. Indeed, Malouda’s case is kooky even by the standards of CONCACAF, a confederation plagued by scandal and accusations of match-fixing in recent years.
Fielding him would result in an automatic loss for French Guiana. Malouda did not play in French Guiana’s 4-2 loss to Canada in the Gold Cup opener.
“It was an exciting match. French Guiana is a small country. We don’t have the environment to play football. We have lots of different players that are not professional,” a dejected French Guiana coach Jair Karam told reporters, through a translator, after the game. “It’s really hard for us. I am really proud of our players. As we say in France, ‘it’s like a small horse fighting against a Ferrari.’ So it was really important for us to experience this environment in a very exciting way. For them it will be very important going further.”
“You have to name Malouda, it’s very important,” an irate Karam told the translator sitting next to him in English.
“He is disappointed with the situation regarding Malouda,” the translator added.
Indeed, the decision has sparked an international incident. As Sports Illustrated reported this past Thursday: “It was believed Malouda, who was born in the Guianan capital of Cayenne, could participate because the Ligue de Football de la Guyane isn’t a FIFA member. Therefore, he wouldn’t be breaking the rules by turning out for another FIFA nation after becoming cap-tied to France. CONCACAF counts several such countries, including fellow 2017 Gold Cup qualifier Martinique and 2007 Gold Cup Cinderella Guadeloupe, among its members. Their teams can compete for continental honors but can’t enter the World Cup because they’re each technically overseas departments of France.”
Turns out that’s not so. CONCACAF is clear in its rules for this Gold Cup, stating: “Each participating member association shall select its national representative team from the best players who are nationals of its country and under its jurisdiction, and are eligible for selection in accordance with the provisions of the applicable FIFA regulations.”
French Guiana qualified for their first Gold Cup in history by finishing third at the Caribbean Cup last month. Malouda played three games at that tournament. Malouda had been trying to follow in the footsteps of his countryman Jocelyn Angloma, who had played for Guadeloupe at the 2007 Gold Cup. At the time, CONCACAF did not follow FIFA’s guidelines regarding cap-tied players when that player decided to play for a territory or department not affiliated with the world governing body. Angloma, a defender capped by France 37 times, helped the tiny island go on a Cinderella run, reaching the semifinals at that 2007 edition.
Karam mentioned Angloma in his comments to reporters, an example of how a high-caliber player can change the fortunes of a minnow.
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“We just had one match to prepare for the Gold Cup,” Karam said. “As I said before, the potential is there and what our players did against Canada was really important for us.”
Karam said the French Football Federation gave his team the go-ahead to field Malouda, but that it was CONCACAF that stopped them.
“Malouda was really disappointed not to play at the Gold Cup,” he added. “We have the national anthem of France, we have the passport of France, we have the flag of France.”