French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes stepped in on Friday to defuse a row with Italy after controversial comments by France coach Raymond Domenech.
In an interview released on Thursday, Domenech had accused Italy of bribing the referee of an Under-21 international between France and Italy during the qualification campaign for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Domenech had also, in the interview with French daily Le Parisien, praised Italy defender Marco Materazzi for provoking Zinedine Zidane into headbutting him in last year's World Cup final. Zidane was sent off and France lost on penalties.
"FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes this (Friday) morning called his Italian counterpart Giancarlo Abete to make clear the comments made yesterday (Thursday) by the France coach were only his (Domenech's) own views", the FFF said in a statement.