Credit crunch grounds French soccer team

2009-09-05T15:33:39-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img title="Eric Gerets" src="http://i.cnn.net/si/fannation/marseille-coach.jpg" alt="Eric Gerets" width="298" height="396" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: right;">Marseille's Eric Gerets was forced to do without his cigars.  <br /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: right;">Boris Horvat/Getty Images</div> </div> <p>If you think well-compensated pro athletes are immune to the worldwide credit squeeze, think again.</p> <p>Consider French soccer team Olympique Marseille, whose players had to pony up the cash from their own pockets just to get home after last week's 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid in a Champions League group stage match.</p> <p>When the team arrived at Barajas Airport to discover their charter flight was grounded, it was revealed their pilot's <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/custom/morningbriefing/la-sp-briefing6-2008oct06,0,6521654.story" target="_blank">credit card had been rejected</a> by oil company Exxon while he was attempting to refuel the plane. Awkward pocket-digging from players and officials ensued.</p> <blockquote> <p>What to do? The players and coaches passed the hat and came up with the necessary 3,000 euros ($4,090) to buy the fuel.<br /><br />Marseille Coach <strong>Eric Gerets</strong>, a former Belgian World Cup player, was not amused.<br /><br />"I wanted to buy two cigars, but I gave 100 euros, which meant I was not able to smoke today," he said. "I felt as though I was in a film, a bad one. Had we won, I would not have cared, but because we lost it was a little more difficult to take."</p> </blockquote> <p>An <a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5itLqHi2CpuLv81wa_tlRzs-WXohw" target="_blank">AFP story</a> chalks up the embarrassing situation to an administrative error on Exxon's side, saying the company plans to launch an internal inquiry. Said team travel agent <strong>Christophe Villeneuve</strong>: "We needed to go home but Exxon were not contactable and [oil company] CLH did not have a great deal of goodwill for us either. So we had to pay in cash which has surely never been done before."</p> Credit crunch grounds French soccer team

2008-10-07T14:34:28-04:00

2008-10-07T14:44:28-04:00

2008-10-09T11:58:26-04:00

Rif

No City 578903

24 Funny how it seems that offensive comments are not removed when they're about bashing a foreign country and its people. This kind of ignorant and xenophobic rant is just the reason why Americans are disliked in many parts of the world. I'm sure the families of the French soldiers killed in Afghanistan fighting alongside American troops would be thrilled to know how the sacrifice of their loved ones is appreciated in the US. I thought this was a blog about sports, not about hating other nations. Would this kind of comment be left on this site if it were about Black people, Jews, Mexicans ? I don't think so. Besides, this article is perfectly unintersting and inaccurate. 3013467

2008-10-10T00:05:53-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/458/626/thumb/Marmo.jpg 3611

Marmosito

459066

Funny how it seems that offensive comments are not removed when they're about bashing a foreign country and its people. This kind of ignorant and xenophobic rant is just the reason why Americans are disliked in many parts of the world. I'm sure the families of the French soldiers killed in Afghanistan fighting alongside American troops would be thrilled to know how the sacrifice of their loved ones is appreciated in the US. I thought this was a blog about sports, not about hating other nations. Would this kind of comment be left on this site if it were about Black people, Jews, Mexicans ? I don't think so. Besides, this article is perfectly unintersting and inaccurate.

25 And now significantly more uninteresting and innacurate for your having contributed your two cents. I don't believe the fact that the French sent some of their soldiers to Afghanistan was mentioned, nor were the families of those soldiers. The point was, if I'm not mistaken, that no French soldiers were sent to Iraq, which is a dig at the French government and nobody else. And to answer your question about why that comment was not removed, my guess is because there is no more unlikeable country in western Europe than France. I agree that they are a cow-towing bunch of self-interested cowards who would sooner fire-bomb a row of cars in their own capitol city to demonstrate their world views than stand up for themselves on the world stage. Black people, Jewish people and Mexican people all show from time to time that they at least have a pair. Not quite so for the French in the last century-plus. 3019450

2008-10-09T11:58:26-04:00

Rif

No City 578903

2008-10-08T22:51:56-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/436/460/thumb/NY.jpg 21711 NY

Atro Steals Yer Base

World Champs 436900

23 Hey, Pierre - is that a foreign army marching down the champs elyse? Wave that flag, Frenchies! Wave it high and wide! And then spit in the face of whoever bails you out when they ask for your help or support your economy! No wonder Exxon rejected your carde de credite you stankcheese eaters! But sometimes I wonder ... aren't the French really our friends in the world? Don't they support us and treat us with dignity and friendship when we visit their country? Maybe I've been wrong this whole time ... well, anyhoo, I'm off with my girlfriend to the congressional cafeteria for some freedom fries, and then I'm donating to the Families of French Fighters in Iraq support fund. This should be a cheap date I'm thinkin'. (Lord, I do hate the French, how I do hate them so ... anyone catch those whiny French sore losers at the Olympic swimming competitions? There should be an official poolside bitchslapper for chumps like that!) 3009552

2008-10-08T11:29:37-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/408/360/thumb/Rohnnie.jpg 345 VA

Ronaldinho's Dog

Falls Church 408800

21 Let me point out that the main point of this article is completely inacurate. This event had absolutely nothing to do with the credit crunch - no defaults, delinquencies, collateral calls. Just a processing error most likely by whatever platform Exxon uses to process their card entries. 3002960

2008-10-08T19:34:16-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/122/135/thumb/KANSAS_Signs.jpg 245 KS

JayhawkRock

Lawrence 122434

Let me point out that the main point of this article is completely inacurate. This event had absolutely nothing to do with the credit crunch - no defaults, delinquencies, collateral calls. Just a processing error most likely by whatever platform Exxon uses to process their card entries.

22 Nevertheless, it allows us to make fun of the French, which is an inherently American thing to do. So for that I thank SI's decision to employ writers for the writing of purposeless and oftentimes altogether untrue articles. 3008760

2008-10-08T11:29:37-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/408/360/thumb/Rohnnie.jpg 345 VA

Ronaldinho's Dog

Falls Church 408800

2008-10-08T03:11:56-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/122/135/thumb/KANSAS_Signs.jpg 245 KS

JayhawkRock

Lawrence 122434

20 And the comment by Gerets just confirms that my laughter at the "captain crunch" comment is entirely justifiable. Just imagine if France had a "Globetrotters" team...the Washington Generals would be at least .500, with most of their wins by forfeit. 3000103

2008-10-08T03:07:59-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/122/135/thumb/KANSAS_Signs.jpg 245 KS

JayhawkRock

Lawrence 122434

19 Yea...Olympique Marseille does NOT = French National Team. That being said, these teams are incredibly popular and their stars very well paid. Gerets shouldn't complain about his cigar situation though. How ridiculous to cry over that when everyone else is struggling throughout the world. 3000101

2008-10-07T19:04:34-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/485/883/thumb/horseselkmt.jpg 90 LA

train64

Prairieville 486343

First of all, it's good to see the extremely literate Fannation users capable of distinguishing between the French National Soccer Team and Olympic Marseille, a soccer team based in Marseille, France. Second, we shouldn't mock a country that lost more soldiers in a single war than the U.S. has in its entire history. The French suffered six million casaulties in the three years of World War I, equaling 15% of its total population. Mocking them for being quick to surrender is insulting and shows a lack of knowledge about history. They came closer to conquering Europe than anyone else in history during the Napoleonic era, and played a vital role in our country winning its independence from Britain.

11 Nice to see an intelligent and historically correct comment. We also would not have won the American Revolution with ou the French. They financed the war, provided troops, officers to train our men and had a relationship with the native americans that we didn't..Of course our own troops and our leaders performed heroically. 2998507

2008-10-08T00:32:25-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/436/460/thumb/NY.jpg 21711 NY

Atro Steals Yer Base

World Champs 436900

Nice to see an intelligent and historically correct comment. We also would not have won the American Revolution with ou the French. They financed the war, provided troops, officers to train our men and had a relationship with the native americans that we didn't..Of course our own troops and our leaders performed heroically.

18 Yes, and there's plenty more where that came from ... just log on to www.frognation.com. 2999838

2008-10-08T00:07:25-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/482/462/thumb/moongif_1_.gif 8389 NY

Johnny B.Goode

Blue Point 482902

17 I liked Exxon much better when they were Esso and they put a tiger in your tank. 2999762

2008-10-07T20:22:13-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/570/978/thumb/2196150694_ac3efab257.jpg 1022 CA

Knicks09

Camarillo 571458

16 Or... They have too much time in there hand, and go to wikipedia 2998798

Bryan Armen Graham

New York 97938