Chelsea Football Club has the following statement on the international career of Claude Makelele.

 

The statement says:

 

Ill-considered comments regarding Claude Makelele's international career continue to come from the French camp, in particular Lilian Thuram, and the French national team coach, Raymond Domenech.

 

Jose Mourinho was correct in giving strong backing for our player, and he was fully supported by Chelsea FC on this.

 

Thuram and Domenech appear not to appreciate a manager's support for his player. They also fail to understand Jose Mourinho's comments regarding "slavery" which were purely a metaphor to illustrate the Makelele problem, a figure of speech rather than a literal comparison with slavery as a social and political issue.

 

As a result of their failings, deliberately inflammatory comments will only cloud a problem which is on its way to being resolved.

 

Claude, Chelsea Football Club and the French Football Federation hope to have a resolution after the current round of international matches.