France halted a World Cup training session after a furious row between captain Patrice Evra and fitness coach Robert Duverne, leading to the immediate resignation of the team director.
France coach Raymond Domenech had to move in to separate them. Duverne angrily threw his stopwatch on to the pitch and left.
The players then walked towards their bus following the incident, a day after striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home after insulting Domenech at half-time of a 2-0 defeat by Mexico on Thursday in Polokwane.
“They don’t want to train, it’s a scandal,” France team director and French Football Federation managing director Jean-Louis Valentin said as he also left the pitch.
“It’s a scandal for French people, for the youngsters who came here to watch them train. I’m resigning, I’m leaving the Federation. I have nothing more to do here. I’m going back to Paris.”
The new scandal came a day after Evra said a “traitor” within the team had leaked Anelka’s insults to the press.