Malouda loses appeal against French Guiana ban

Lausanne (AFP) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Thursday that former France international Florent Malouda broke the rules when he played for French Guiana in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. 

Malouda appeared in the 2017 Gold Cup for Guiana, the French overseas department where he was born, and was subsequently banned by the Confederation of North and Central American and the Caribbean because he had played international football for France. 

CONCACAF also turned Guiana’s 0-0 with Honduras in Houston, in which Malouda played, into a 3-0 defeat.

Malouda appealed to CAS and presented his case in Lausanne in January, but the tribunal decided that the former Chelsea midfielder had broken Gold Cup and FIFA rules and that the punishments were not excessive.

Born in Cayenne, Malouda won the French league four times with Lyon and the English Premier League and Champions League with Chelsea. He played 80 times for France and appeared in the 2006 World Cup final loss to Italy in 2006.

Malouda, who is 37, lives in Luxembourg and has been playing for local first-division club Differdange.