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The goalkeeper of the French national team and the team, Fabien Barthez, will not be able to play in official matches at least until October 15 - such a decision was made by the French Football Federation, which extended the disqualification period for the player for hitting the referee in a friendly match.
Initially, the 33-year-old footballer was suspended for six months by the disciplinary committee of the federation for an incident during a friendly match in Morocco on February 12, with half of this punishment conditional on the player's behavior. Therefore, Barthez could have returned to the field at the end of July.
However, the federation appealed its own decision and on Friday the appellate committee increased Barthez's punishment - the goalkeeper was disqualified until the end of the year, but will be able to play from October 15, if he completes ten specific tasks beneficial for amateur football by that time.
Thus, the French national team, competing in Group 4 of the 2006 World Cup qualifying matches, will have to play in the remaining matches without their main goalkeeper, and Barthez will also miss the beginning of the "Marseille" season participating in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup.
Despite previously considering retiring due to such a decision, the eccentric goalkeeper now stated that he is preparing to continue playing: "I have no desire to end my career - I will continue playing, and I will be at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. I will fight where I am strongest, which is on the field. However, I am very disappointed with the federation's decision," Barthez said.
