Zinedine Zidane Banned from Coaching for 3 Months

French football legend and current Real Madrid Castilla coach Zinedine Zidane has received a three-month coaching ban from the Spanish Football Competition Committee for not having the proper qualifications to manage a team in one of the top divisions in Spain, according to various reports.

AS' Juan Jimenez knows the decision was made following a complaint from the representative of the Spanish coaches, Miguel Galan, who notified authorities Zidane's UEFA "A" License is only the equivalent of a Level 2 qualification. Spanish football requires all managers to have a Level 3.

Paul White/Associated Press

Santiago Sanchez, who was named head coach in an attempt to have the former Real Madrid star manage the club behind the scenes, was given the same punishment. Real Madrid Castilla can still appeal the verdict.

The club issued a statement on its website following the announcement:

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In response to the sanction handed down by the Competition Committee to the Real Madrid Castilla's head coach and second coach, Santiago Sánchez and Zinedine Zidane respectively, Real Madrid C. F. would like to outline the following:

1. The club's absolute disagreement with the decision, not least of all because Zinedine Zidane has been authorised by the French Football Federation to work as a head coach in the category Real Madrid Castilla currently find themselves in, as the certificate issued by said Federation from 13 October 2014 states.

2. Real Madrid will pursue every available legal avenue so that this decision is overturned.

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According to Gianlucadimarzio.com's David Amoyal, the 1998 World Cup winner believes the verdict to be "unfair" due to the differences in training between France and Spain:

Zidane confirmed the report himself in an interview with Le Figaro (h/t Daily Mail's Richard Arrowsmith):

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I have no regrets about having taken my qualifications in France. It's still amazing that there are also so few people to defend me and explain that I did not have special privilege.

I did not circumvent the difficulty—but some took the opportunity to spit on me.

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Los Blancos' Florentino Perez watched the club's B-team for the first time this season on Sunday, with Marca's Ruben Jimenez seeing it as a vote of confidence for the manager, who faced some criticism after a poor start to the season:

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Things have taken a turn for the better in terms of results. Now it is up to the club to resolve the matter of the Frenchman and his coaching badges.

Florentino openly supports Zidane and he is going to try until the very end to exert his influence over the situation, especially after it was him who pushed to give the Frenchman a key role within the club.

The president is closing ranks around Zizou and further proof of this was his presence at the game against Huesca just days before a final decision is made regarding his ban.

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No official announcement has been made regarding a possible replacement for Zidane, although the club is likely to hold off on making any decisions. Once the process to appeal has been started, Zidane will be free to continue coaching until a final verdict arrives.  

The situation does beg the question of how Perez and Real Madrid allowed things to come to this in the first place. Zidane was promoted to the position, having previously worked as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant, and if there were problems with his qualifications, the club could have just waited for him to obtain the necessary diploma.

Instead, they now face the possibility of losing him for three months altogether, and with Real Madrid Castilla barely sitting above the relegation zone in the Segunda Division B, they can ill-afford any distractions.

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