Anelka laughs off 18-match ban

The 31-year-old was handed the suspension by an FFF disciplinary commission on Tuesday, a decision derided by Anelka, who said he never intended to play for France again anyway.

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"For me, that commission thing is absolute nonsense, an aberration, a farce, an attempt not to lose face," Anelka was quoted as saying by daily France Soir on Wednesday.

"They know that very well. They didn't punish anybody... because the Les Bleus chapter was closed for me on June 19, when I was kicked out of Knysna," he added, referring to the town where France had their World Cup training camp.

Anelka was banished from the France squad in South Africa for insulting then coach Raymond Domenech at halftime of a 2-0 defeat by Mexico in Polokwane, his 69th international appearance.

"They just entertained the public," Anelka said of the commission hearing.

"They'd better turn the page because (new France coach) Laurent Blanc needs to work in peace. These people are clowns. It makes me die of laughter," he added.

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"For me, since the World Cup in South Africa, the France team is all in the past... I wear a blue shirt with Chelsea every weekend and that's far enough for me."

The striker did not attend the hearing, where World Cup captain Patrice Evra was banned for five matches for leading a boycott of a training session in support of Anelka.

The FFF also banned Franck Ribery for three games and Jeremy Toulalan for one. Eric Abidal was the only one of five players involved in Tuesday's hearing to escape without sanction.

Blanc said he had hoped the commission would not ban any player for the start of their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

"Obviously, this is not the ideal situation for French football who would need all its trump cards to tackle the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012," Blanc said in a statement.

"I had hoped that at the end of August I would have found an appeased situation and I would have wished the South African chapter to be definitely closed... This is not the case but there is no point in arguing."

Ribery accepted his ban but felt the players at the hearing had been cast as scapegoats.

"This is a great disappointment for me," Ribery told reporters ahead of Bayern Munich's Bundesliga opener against VfL Wolfsburg on Friday.

"What happened at the World Cup happened to all of us. I do not know why only five players had to go to Paris (for the hearing)."

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