Injured: Frédéric Michalak
Toulon boss Mourad Boudjellal has blasted the French Rugby Federation, saying that they should be paying the wages of Frédéric Michalak and not him after the playmaker was injured playing for his country last weekend.
Boudjellal is unhappy that Michalak dislocated his left shoulder at the end of the 23-16 victory over Scotland at the Stade de France on Saturday - a result that was not enough for the French to avoid their first wooden spoon since 1999 - and will be out for between six to eight weeks of upcoming action.
Boudjellal, who has often found himself in trouble with the various French rugby authorities for his remarks, said he could not believe it was him who had to pick up the wages which are not covered by social security.
"It is not normal that international players are not covered by insurance contracts of the French Rugby Federation," he told AFP.
"This system is abhorrent because I get back an injured player and it is my responsibility to pay the difference between what social security reimburses (the limit is 4000 euros per month) and his monthly salary.
"I was not invited to the match. I am just invited to pay his salary."
The injury to Michalak - who plays scrum-half for Toulon as Jonny Wilkinson is first choice at fly-half - rounded off a miserable tournament for him on a personal level as his performances came in for widespread criticism.
Comments
chancer says...
Just another symptom of what is wrong with Rugby in France, Freddie has been playing non stop for too long, has he ever been rested from club rugby since returning from SA? French rugby needs an agreement similar to England where players are restricted to how many games they play and are given rest periods from club rugby to prepare for Internationals. illustrated by the difference in performance between the touring side and the 6Nations.
Posted 07:57 21st March 2013
Michtymauler says...
I used to be a big fan of Michalak and even though he had a few bad games I still defended him, HOWEVER I'm a big believer in karma and after his cowardly assault on Hogg from behind I have no sympathy for his injury. Why would an experienced player take such action on a rookie? Try and take out the danger man by the looks of it.
Doesn't matter that Michalak's injured. There should be consistency and he should be cited.
Posted 12:48 20th March 2013
Jhamer25 says...
What they are bluddy loaded and they are moaning that they have to pay a bit of money for the welfare of one of their star players.
What a prat.
I support scarlets who are very short on a bit of change at the mpment yet the managment are always dedicated and put everything in towards a players treatment and physio.
He is a tight spoilt prat.
Posted 20:21 19th March 2013
Fonzarelli says...
Maybe he should blame Freddie for attempting to maul, or Matthieu for being so fat.
Posted 13:52 19th March 2013
Norm says...
Aw poor Mourad, after he has done so much to raise the salaries in the game as he amasses his ranks of test experienced players. Now he has to pay those salaries when shock horror some of them get injured.
And I recall him complaining about Dan Carters wage demands to join him! What planet is this dingbat on!
Posted 12:57 19th March 2013
provyd says...
Why hasn't Michalak been cited yet for his cowardly off-the-ball facial assault on Hogg from behind (and then from in front)? Unbelievable that the touch judge just stood there watching and no action was taken!
Posted 12:52 19th March 2013
rockman says...
theres two ways to look at this, one is that he is correct in saying this as if a play gets injured for another team then that team should cover the salary and cost, the other is that he has been very vocal about how annoyed he is that a lot of his players are taken for international duty. For this he would have a point, if the players in question had gone through the ranks at Toulon and not bought in at their peak. what goes around comes comes around Mourad!
Posted 10:18 19th March 2013
lawynd says...
Sport carries inherent risks and it's unlucky but tough when they happen. If Boudjellal was in any way savvy he'd have had his players insured against such an eventuality so that their wages are covered. Anyway, eight weeks? That's the minimum he should be banned for after his assault on Hogg at the weekend.
Posted 10:16 19th March 2013
Monkeyboy says...
Perhaps he should limit his players salaries to ¿4k a month then...
Posted 09:45 19th March 2013
geoff332 says...
He doesn't complain when his players are selected for international duty, which increases the popularity (and merchandise) they generate for the club. He only complains when he has to pick up the bill for that activity which generates revenue.
Posted 09:44 19th March 2013
RedSheep says...
Gotta say that's a pretty fair comment really
Posted 06:34 19th March 2013