ESPN Analyst Frank Leboeuf Apologizes for Controversial Morocco Comments

"I’m so happy for Morocco. I think it might be hard for people watching us to place Morocco on a map. It’s a small country, a poor country where a lot of people suffer," he said on the ESPN set. He follows up with another blunder: "most of the players come from France and have dual nationality." A lack of knowledge on the part of the former 98 world champion. Among the Moroccan players present in Qatar, only Romain Saïss and Sofiane Boufal have dual French nationality.

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These comments quickly sparked heated controversy. On the web, many Moroccan Internet users expressed their outrage. "The biased and false statements of Franck Lebœuf concerning Morocco," reacted KoraMaroc on his Twitter account. Faced with the controversy, the former French international explained the substance of his remarks and at the same time presented his apologies to the Moroccan people. "I’m sorry if it shocked you, but that wasn’t the point. I certainly didn’t want to denigrate but on the contrary highlight the feat of the Moroccans," assured the former Chelsea and France defender.

"I was wrong about the dual nationality story and I’m really, really sorry. If I’ve hurt people, I really want to apologize. And it’s really not racism at all," he added.