Escalettes, who quit on Monday in the wake of France's shambolic World Cup showing, told a parliamentary commission he could do nothing to stop the players boycotting a training session in support of expelled striker Nicolas Anelka.
The 75-year-old official told the commission about the incident at Knysna in South Africa's Western Cape, and how he had tried to convince the players sitting in the team coach that refusing to train was not a good idea.
Escalettes and outgoing France coach Raymond Domenech, who also appeared at Wednesday's hearing, told the commission they had tried their best to reason with the rebellious players.
"He (Escalettes) told us that in the coach they (Escalettes and Domenech) had used every conceivable argument in vain," commission member Lionel Tardy told reporters after Wednesday's hearing, that took place behind closed doors.
"Escalettes told us they faced a wall (of opposition), something he had never experienced in over 50 years of experience in football, and they could not make it fall," he added. "For him, something was broken that day."
Escalettes faced criticism for failing to prevent the squad's implosion but also for having always supported Domenech, whose traumatic six-year tenure ended with France's elimination.
Domenech, whose lack of authority and vision were exposed at the World Cup, told the commission French sports daily L'Equipe had contributed to the team's collapse by printing Anelka's crude insults on its front page.
The insults had been muttered by Anelka at half time of the 2-0 defeat by Mexico in their second group game. Two days later, the L'Equipe story came out and later that day, the striker was sent home after failing to apologise.
"Domenech told us that the front-page story was what started everything," Tardy said. "He said that without it, he would have been able to handle the situation."
"I find it scandalous that those two people refused to speak in the presence of media," commission member and former Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour told reporters during a break.
"I can't understand what they need to hide from the French people," he added.
France's woeful campaign and the players' revolt in South Africa sparked a national debate with senior politicians getting involved.
Wednesday's hearing took place a day after FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned
