Although he has defended him in the past, Bafétimbi Gomis is now distancing himself from Pierre Ménès. The former French international "strongly condemns" the controversial comments made by the former Canal+ columnist about the French national team.

Pierre Ménès abandoned by his (former) supporters. After Djibril Cissé, who said he was "very disappointed" after the controversial remarks made by the former Canal+ columnist, it's Bafétimbi Gomis' turn to speak out. "I am very disappointed by Pierre Ménès' comments and strongly condemn them," the former OL and OM striker wrote on his social media, in response to the interview Pierre Ménès recently gave to the far-right media outlet TVLibertés.

Gomis: "A coach's choices are made based on talent, not skin color!"

Recalling an anecdote already told a few years ago on CNews, the latter declared: "If you go to a Division d'honneur match in the Paris region, you will generally see that there is a white person on the pitch and he is a goalkeeper or right back. Look at the French team. In the French team, today, there are eleven black people." Faced with the controversy, which he considers "sterile and childish", Pierre Ménès has since defended himself, in his own way, by assuring that he cannot "be friends with Gomis, Henry, Nawell Madani or Malik Bentalha and be a filthy racist monster."

An argument that clearly did not convince Bafétimbi Gomis. "Calling for hatred and division is unworthy. The strength of the French team, two-time world champion, is its diversity. A coach's choices are made based on talent, not skin color!!" reacted the former French international, this time distancing himself from Pierre Ménès, whom he had defended in 2019 when the columnist spoke of supposed "anti-white racism" in the world of football.

"He's a friend, I know he's not racist, even if he said something stupid, and I condemn his comments," Bafétimbi Gomis reacted at the time on RMC Sport . "But we mustn't lump things together, confuse everything. Sometimes I miss a clear goal and he, as he's a loudmouth, may have expressed himself badly. But I repeat, he's not a racist. I took some flak for defending him but I have principles: I was always taught to tell the truth."