Bordeaux coach Sagnol under fire over 'African players' remarks

In an interview with local newspaper Sud Ouest, Sagnol said: "The advantage of the typical African player is that he is not expensive when you take him, he's generally ready to fight and he is powerful on the pitch. But football is not just that, it's also technique, intelligence, discipline."

Former France fullback Lilian Thuram and anti-racism associations hit out at Sagnol, who has the backing of his club.

"It's laid-back anti-black racism," SOS Racisme said in a statement, asking that "the LFP (French League), FFF (French Federation) and the Sports ministry take immediate sanctions."

Thuram said: "It is damaging that someone can hint that 'the African players' lack this or that quality."

The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) said in a statement: "These abject theories are those that during the course of History have led to some kind of men and women having their humanity denied."

Bordeaux, however, stood by their coach, with president Jean-Louis Triaud saying on Wednesday that the interpretation of Sagnol's remarks were 'malicious'.

In 2011, then France coach Laurent Blanc also came under fire after he attended a soccer federation meeting in November where the idea of quotas for Arab and African youth players were discussed.

Blanc was cleared of discrimination charges following an inquiry by the French government.