France's 1998 World Cup triumph has been thrown into doubt after a former sports minister admitted the national team was exempt from unannounced anti-doping tests for an entire year before the tournament.
Marie-George Buffet, who served as sports minister under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from 1997 to 2002, made the revelation in the documentary 'Zidane: The Making of a Legend'. The admission comes 13 years after she denied such claims before a Senate Committee.
Exemption after Tignes training camp
Buffet said the decision followed a surprise anti-doping test during a training camp in Tignes in 1997. The tests were heavily criticised by players, then-manager Aime Jacquet, and the French Football Federation (FFF), who accused the ministry of disrupting their preparations.
Although all urine tests came back negative, the furious reaction led Buffet to tell Dr Alan Garnier, who carried out the tests, to stop bothering the team. According to Le Parisien, Garnier said: "I was no longer to bother the French team until the World Cup. In short, no more unannounced tests."
Buffet confirms verbal directive
Garnier claimed the "verbal directive" was confirmed by Buffet, who acknowledged facing pressures "of all kinds" regarding the national team. Speaking on BMFTV, Buffet said: "If Dr Garnier says so, then yes, it must have been true. We didn't put it quite like that, but it amounts to the same thing. It was a step backwards."
When asked about the origins of the decision, Buffet responded: "We must have been given instructions at the ministerial level."
Impact on France's triumph
The revelations cast doubt on France's 3-0 victory over Brazil in the final, their first World Cup title, with Zinedine Zidane scoring twice and Emmanuel Petit adding a stoppage-time goal.
Zidane, now France's manager after replacing Didier Deschamps, will lead the team at Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup.
