Former Minister Marie-George Buffet Admits Halt to Doping Controls on French Football Team Before 1998 World Cup

In a recent documentary titled "Zidane, la fabrique d’une légende" aired on BFMTV, former French Minister of Sports Marie-George Buffet publicly acknowledged that random doping controls on the French national football team, known as the Bleus, were stopped prior to the 1998 World Cup. This admission overturns her previous denials regarding the suspension of these anti-doping measures.

The controversy began in 1997 when an unexpected doping test took place during a training camp in Tignes. Players, coach Aimé Jacquet, and the French Football Federation criticized the tests, claiming they disrupted the team's preparation for the upcoming tournament. Despite all urine tests coming back negative, the backlash was significant enough to influence the decision to halt further controls.

Alain Garnier, the physician assigned by the Sports Ministry to conduct these tests, confirmed that Buffet instructed him verbally to stop random doping tests until after the World Cup. Buffet subsequently admitted that this directive implied a retreat in anti-doping efforts, although she could not recall the exact wording or confirm the origin of the order, suggesting it might have come from higher government levels.

Despite this setback, Buffet later became instrumental in advancing anti-doping legislation in France, initiating the country's first anti-doping law in 1999, a year after France's World Cup victory.

This revelation sheds new light on the complexities and pressures surrounding doping controls in elite sports during a critical period for French football and highlights the political and institutional challenges faced in combating doping within the sport.