 President Nicolas Sarkozy was quoted as being "viscerally opposed to any form of quota", while adding "setting quotas would be the end of the Republic".National Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno echoed the President's sentiments, while also demanding that the FFF "shed light" on a report.Blanc was defended by several former players, most notably his 1998 World Cup-winning teammates Christophe Dugarry, Bixente Lizarazu, Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly and Emmanuel Petit, current players such as current national team captain Alou Diarra, and external sources, which included Pathé Diba, the president of L'Association Soutien aux Handicapés Africains ().