France have been allowed to keep their squad for their controversial 11 November friendly against Australia. Manchester United and Chelsea will both miss two players while Arsenal will lose Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira. The clubs had tried to get the game called off or at least limit the number of players chosen from each club. Hopes were eventually pinned on a FIFA rule which limited the number of times that clubs had to release players for friendly matches.
France have not yet played eight friendly matches this year – the Confederations Cup counts as a competitive tournament – so FIFA have permitted the players to go to Australia. French coach Roger Lemerre selected a full-strength squad on Tuesday, going against an earlier recommendation by FIFA that the countries should select just one player per European club.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
