World Cup bombshell as ex-champs 'avoided anti-doping tests' for whole year before winning

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The France national team were allegedly exempt from unannounced anti-doping tests for an entire year before winning the World Cup in 1998. That is according to Marie-George Buffet, who served as minister of sports under former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from 1997 to 2002.

Her revelations have come 13 years after denying such claims in front of a Senate Committee. The politician made the new statement during the documentary 'Zidane: The Making of a Legend', which focuses on the newly-appointed national team boss and his legendary playing career.

However, it was overshadowed by Buffet's admission, which she said was sparked by a surprise anti-doping test during a training camp in Tignes in 1997. The tests were slammed by the players, then-manager Aime Jacquet and the French Football Federation (FFF), who accused the ministry of disrupting their preparations.

All the urine tests had come back negative, but the furious reaction led Buffet to tell Alan Garnier - the doctor who carried out the tests - to no longer bother the team with anti-doping tests, according to Garnier himself.

According to Le Parisien , he said: "I was no longer to bother the French team until the World Cup. In short, no more unannounced tests." The doctor claimed the "verbal directive" was confirmed by Buffet, who acknowledged she faced pressures "of all kinds" when it came to leaving the national team alone.

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Buffet said on BMFTV: "If Dr Garnier says so, then yes, it must have been true," upon hearing Garnier's remarks. "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 to eliminate anti-doping tests for the national team, Buffet responded: "We must have been given instructions at the ministerial level."

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The stunning revelations have now cast doubt on France's triumph. Their 3-0 win over Brazil on home soil was the nation's first-ever World Cup triumph, with Zinedine Zidane's brace and Emmanuel Petit's stoppage-time goal leading to celebrations across the country.