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Paris - French Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka is suing the sports daily L'Equipe for slander over a story that he insulted France manager Raymond Domenech during the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the website 20minutes.fr reported on Thursday.
Anelka has never denied insulting Domenech at half-time of the match against Mexico on June 17, but maintains that the newspaper distorted his words, which were featured prominently in a large Page 1 headline.
Anelka was kicked off the team after the L'Equipe report, which led to a team mutiny ahead of France's match against South Africa.
After losing 2-0 to Mexico and 2-1 to South Africa, France were eliminated from the tournament in the group stage.
Other France players, including Thierry Henry, have said that the obscene rant cited by L'Equipe was not accurate.
However, the daily's editor-in-chief, Fabrice Jouhaud, told 20minutes.fr that he stuck by the story.
"I have confidence in my journalists," he said.
