France coach Didier Deschamps sued the girlfriend of Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri on Friday for allegedly insulting him on Twitter.
Deschamps's lawyer told Reuters that his client had filed a legal complaint for "public insult" against Anara Atanes for messages she posted after Nasri was left out the French provisional World Cup squad.
Atanes took to the social networking site again on Thursday night to apologise for any offence caused, yet she pointedly refused to name Deschamps.
“I apologize if i offended anyone from france, My tweets were not aimed at the nation as a whole,” tweeted the Brighton-born model.
Deschamps cited as reasons for not choosing Nasri that he was not performing well enough and that his behaviour could weaken team spirit during six weeks together at the tournament in Brazil.
“As he says himself, when he is not one of the starters he is not happy and I can assure you that it shows, that others in the group feel it,” Deschamps told TF1 television.
The French Football Federation has condemned the remarks made by Atanes, releasing a brief statement on its official website on Friday, backing Deschamps.
“The FFF condemns insulting remarks against Didier Deschamps and fully supports the coach in his approach,” it read .
“The unanimous feedback confirmed that the whole of France condemned such remarks. The FFF believes that the unanimous indignation is enough to condemn such behaviour.”
Nasri, who missed the 2010 World Cup when former coach Raymond Domenech left him out of the squad, helped Manchester City win the Premier League title this month.