The doctor Marc Ritalie had joined the new France coaching staff under Zinedine Zidane. Now he has broken his silence following his sudden removal, insisting that the punishment handed to him by the French Football Federation was excessive.
The French Federation announced Ritalie's appointment to the medical team on 13 August, only to tell him two days later that the collaboration would not continue. The reason: an interview he gave to "RMC Sport" on the day of his appointment.
Federation chiefs judged that Ritalie had "breached the duty of confidentiality", and duly replaced him with Serge Isidoro.
Speaking to the newspaper "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace", in comments relayed by the website "Foot Mercato", Ritalie zeroed in on the gulf between the punishment and what actually happened. He had not even signed his contract with the Federation when he spoke to the media.
He said: "I had not yet signed my contract when the journalists contacted me."
"I deserved a yellow card"
Ritalie admitted he had received recommendations to exercise caution, but insisted he never took those to mean a strict ban on speaking to the media.
He explained: "It warranted a yellow card, or a penalty, or a reprimand, but not complete exclusion."
His contract only reached him on the evening of 14 August, the day after the interview. That was the first he knew of a strict clause covering discretion towards the media.
The very next day, his name vanished from Zinedine Zidane's coaching staff for good.
"I did not provide any sensitive information"
Ritalie reckons the link to the France national team and Zidane blew the affair out of all proportion. "As soon as you talk about the France national team and Zinedine Zidane, the matter takes on an extremely wide resonance," he said.
Nothing sensitive came out during the interview, he stressed, pointing to his 20 years of experience with Sochaux and his work with several professional cycling teams.
Removal or not, Ritalie says he now wants to turn the page, while defending his own reputation and that of his family.
The message from the Federation, as he sees it, was deliberate and timed to land the moment the new coaching staff was formed. He had become an "example" through which the institution wanted to impose its rules.
He said: "Yes, they made an example of me."
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France are preparing to begin the new era under Zidane with four matches at the start of their UEFA Nations League campaign.
Les Bleus face Turkey on 25 September, then Belgium on the 29th of the same month, before meeting Italy on 2 October and closing out their fixtures against Belgium again on 5 October on French soil.