Zidane fury at reports of Grozny invite

French football legend Zinedine Zidane yesterday expressed his anger as he denied he had been invited to the opening of a new stadium in Russia’s war-torn republic of Chechnya next month.

Akhmad Kadyrov stadium, named for the late Chechen leader who was killed in a 2004 bomb blast while attending a ceremony in the republic’s current main stadium, is due to open in the capital Grozny on May 9.

And Chechen sport chief Haidar Alkhanov said on Thursday that Zidane had already accepted an invitation to attend the opening ceremony, and that negotiations were currently under way to secure the presence of UEFA chief Michel Platini.

But Zidane insisted: “First of all I’ve received no invitation of any kind. So obviously no, I won’t be there. Moreover my activites with Real (Madrid) wouldn’t have permitted me to be there.

“Having said that, it’s quite annoying to see event organisers — and this is happening more frequently – announce to the press my confirmed presence while in most cases it’s untrue.

“It’s quite simply to mislead people and I find that unacceptable as I unwittingly find myself associated with it.”

The Chechen leadership has lavished attention on the republic’s football club Terek Grozny, a tiny side which this year is being coached by former Dutch international Ruud Gullit.

Last month, Ramzan Kadyrov led a local squad in an Grozny exhibition match against Brazilian veterans including 1994 World Cup winners like Bebeto and Dunga.