"Shame, eternal shame, nothing but shame."

The French are engaging in public flogging.

I read in a report this morning in Bloomberg that the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, is not happy with the performance of the French national team in the 2010 World Cup. And last week following, what all France has declared to be the teams "shameful performance,"  the French President said the government wants to review how the country’s sports federations are managed -- Suggesting that public flogging of the the national team officials is called for and is justified. The French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, who lists sports within her portfolio, said in an interview on RTL radio last week that Jean-Pierre Escalettes, president of the French Football Federation, resignation was “unavoidable” -- Pointing at the top of the shameful mess, where the flogging should begin. Yesterday, the gentleman resigned.

FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter -- this is the little squirt, who after apologizing to England and Mexico -- should have apologized to the USA too -- for bad refereeing at the World Cup -- shrugged his shoulders and said it's a game -- This old coot said, yesterday, in so many words, that the government of France needs to back away from any involvement in the public flogging of the national team officials, for if the French government is deemed to be interfering with the country’s soccer federation, it risks the suspension of France’s national team from international competitions. French government officials have made no comment concerning the FIFA warning.

The French coach, Raymond Domenech, who is resigning, if he hasn't resigned, lost the respect of his players and of the French football supporters. At the end of France's final game, in the 2010 World Cup, against South Africa, Domenech refused to shake hands with opposing coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title. Shame!

French football fans expected better. France won the World Cup in 1998 and was the runner up for the Cup in 2006, was booted out of the 2010 games, by losing under this coach Domenech, to South Africa, to Mexico, and by drawing a weak tie with Uruguay. The French National team hasn't won in an international competition, since its 1-0 victory over Portugal in the 2006 World Cup.

Today, a French parliamentary committee is scheduled to call Escalettes and Domenech in for a few questions about the shameful events that went on at the 2010 World Cup. May the flogging continue.